ABSTRACT
Vascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide.1 Great strides in treatment have been realized in recent years, particularly in the realm of minimally invasive catheter-based solutions. Many of these advances were the result of successful translation of seemingly disparate fields and disciplines into practical and clinically driven tools. Indeed, today’s catheter-based therapies, such as balloon angioplasty and stenting, are largely the result of such an approach applied by
interventional radiologists over 30 years ago, in which clinical imaging tools and mechanical engineering solutions were translated into the creation of minimally invasive endovascular therapies. Subsequently, an entirely new field of treatment was developed. However, today’s predominantly mechanical solutions are beginning to reach their limits. As we are now understanding disease processes at the molecular level, nanoscale diagnosis and treatment modalities are required to clinically apply such findings. A new generation of translational tools is needed for the treatment of vascular disease.
