Multifunctional balloon catheters of the future

Cardiovascular medicine has benefited, both diagnostically and therapeutically, from dramatic advances that have occurred in catheter-based techniques. Today, as standardof-care, we routinely measure pressure and flow in vessels, cardiac chambers and across valves, image the vasculature at high resolution, and therapeutically balloon-dilate and stent arteries and other cardiovascular structures. Despite these capabilities, new catheter-based techniques continue to emerge. Interventional cardiologists are universally excited by the anticipated regulatory approval of percutaneous valve systems and other structural heart technologies. Can we go further? The answer is yes, as a result of significant advances that have occurred in material science and micro/ nanoelectronics. Recently, a class of novel materials has been developed: stretchable polymer-electronic composites [1,2]. Utilizing these materials, a new class of catheters has been constructed, containing dense arrays of sensors and therapeutic modules [3,4]. In this article we highlight the present and future status of integrating stretchable electronics with cardiovascular catheter systems.