Balloon Angioplasty

Angioplasty opens up or widens a narrowed artery by using a catheter with a balloon on its tip.

Cutting balloon angioplasty

At the tip of the catheter is a balloon with three to four tiny knife blades that create small cuts, spaced evenly around the inside of the vessel wall. These cuts become controlled tears that then allow a second, low-pressure balloon to stretch and dilate the vessel. The advantage of the cutting balloon is its ability to reduce vessel stretch and vessel injury by scoring the blood vessel longitudinally rather than causing an uncontrolled disruption of the plaque.