Clinical Challenges:

• Coronary artery disease may occur in more than one coronary artery. Patients who have coronary artery disease at the bifurcation of an artery (where an artery branches or divides) are especially difficult to treat.

• Visibility to diseased coronary arteries is important in diagnosing the extent of the disease and assessing treatment options.

• Clinicians need easy access to coronary arteries to perform interventional procedures. Access to the treatment site is provided by a guidewire that serves as a track that allows devices like balloons and stents to travel to the diseased site in the artery.