Engine of life under the microscope: medical technology expert Chris Koppenborg demonstrates the benefits of the newly developed material on a model of the heart.
When doctors are searching for the cause of heart problems, they need a very sensitive touch: the sensors that they use to check the engine of life have to be guided carefully through the bloodstream. Heart specialists use their hands to feel bends, branches and resistance on the way through the blood vessels. The smoother the catheter can be moved in the coronary heart vessels, the less of a strain the intervention is for the patient.
Plastic diagnostic tool
Scientists at Bayer MaterialScience have now developed an innovative mixture of materials with an extraordinary effect: catheter tubes coated with this substance glide through the blood vessels as if they were covered in soap. Not only does that make it easier for doctors to examine the heart, but the novel materials mixture also facilitates pacemaker insertion. It can even be used to transport drug products to specific target sites. For more information on the plastic diagnostics tool, read on here.