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Bill
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Sonic Cure
Prototype April 2004
A blocked coronary artery can lead to a fatal heart attack,
and few treatment options exist. Surgeons can thread a tiny,
laser-tipped wire through the artery to peck away at the
clot, but if that doesn't work, they may need to perform open-
heart surgery, as they do with 360,000 patients a year.
Wilmington, MA-based OmniSonics has an alternative: a wire
about the width of the thinnest violin string that emits
sound waves. Instead of focusing its energy only straight
ahead, as lasers do, the wire produces acoustic energy that
radiates outward 360 degrees along its entire length,
dissolving the clot and other material built up in the
artery but leaving the vessel itself unharmed. The company
intends to begin testing on cardiac patients before the end
of the year and hopes for U.S. Food and Drug Administration
approval by late fall.