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Text Descriptions of Medical Devices Pictures

Angioplasty Device

Illustration of a narrowed artery being opened with an angioplasty device. The following illustrations step through the processes of angiography and angioplasty.

Angioplasty is a procedure used to open arteries narrowed by atherosclerosis. To find the blockage, the coronary arteries need to be x-rayed. This process is called angiography. In angiography, a guidewire is inserted through an artery in the arm or leg. From there it is fed through the aorta and into position. A catheter is then inserted along the guidewire and dye is injected into the blood vessels. The dye will show up white in an x-ray image. As the vessels are illuminated, areas of narrowing, or stenosis, reveal blockage.

In angioplasty, a balloon catheter follows a guidewire into the blocked coronary artery. The balloon is inflated and pushes the plaque up against the artery walls. The balloon is deflated, and the balloon catheter and guidewire are removed. The final illustration shows the angioplasty process completed with the blood vessel opened.
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Cardiac Ablation Catheter

Illustration of electrical conduction in the heart. Cardiac ablation is a procedure that is used to correct irregular heartbeats by destroying cardiac tissue that creates abnormal electrical signals. A second illustration shows a cardiac ablation catheter advancing into the heart and destroying cardiac tissue.
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Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD)

Illustration of an ICD implanted near the shoulder, with lead wires connected to the heart. When the ICD senses an abnormal heart rhythm, it delivers an electrical shock to reset the heart rhythm to a normal rhythm.
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Pacemaker

Illustration of a pacemaker implanted near the shoulder, with a lead wire connected to the heart. Subsequent illustrations show single lead and dual lead pacemakers.

A cardiac pacemaker is an implantable device that is used to regulate and maintain a normal heartbeat. It is used to treat conditions such as bradycardia and AV block.

A single lead pacemaker delivers electrical signals to the ventricle. A dual lead pacemaker delivers electrical signals to the atrium and ventricle.
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Prosthetic Heart Valve

This series of illustrations begins by showing a mechanical prosthetic heart valve and a bioprosthetic (tissue) heart valve side by side. It then shows the way that healthy heart valves and diseased heart valves function. Finally, it shows a mechanical heart valve replacing a diseased mitral valve.

Healthy heart valves open and shut when the heart contracts and relaxes. They prevent blood from flowing backwards through the heart. Heart valve disease causes the valve to become too narrow, or leak. This allows blood to flow backward through the heart. The diseased valve can be replaced with a prosthetic heart valve, restoring valve function.
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Stent

Illustration of a blood vessel narrowed by atherosclerosis being opened by angioplasty and then held open with a stent. To insert a stent, a guidewire is threaded to the site of narrowing in the artery. A balloon catheter with a collapsed stent is placed in the narrowed artery. The balloon is inflated, expanding the balloon and pushing the plaque up against the artery walls. Then, the balloon catheter is deflated, leaving the stent in place to hold the artery open. The catheter and guidewire are removed.

Over time, plaque can reform around the stent. Drug-eluting stents contain a time-releasing drug that can prevent in-stent restenosis.
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Ventricular Assist Device

Illustration of a torso with a left ventricular assist device implanted. A ventricular assist device is used to help a heart that can no longer pump blood effectively due to heart failure. The power pump and controller are located outside the body; the pump may be either implanted or external. The left ventricular assist device removes blood from the left ventricle and then pumps it to the aorta so blood can reach the rest of the body.
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Updated February 27th, 2004


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