Percutanueous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA) is a procedure used in modern medicine to treat atherosclerotic plaque. Regretfully, not all types of plaque are good candidates for this type of procedure. If treated by PTCA, ‘unstable plaque’ could cause complications and lead to patients’ re- hospitalization or even death. This book focuses on the design of an impedance-based device to diagnose unstable plaque. The proposed system consists of an array of active miniaturized piezoelectric sensors mounted on a ‘smart’ angioplasty balloon and controlled by a computer. A large scale ‘smart’ balloon, and the manufacturing steps to miniaturize the device are outlined. Numerical simulations and in vitro tests clearly show that unstable plaque can be diagnosed using the approach. Finally, examples of the use of a ‘smart balloon’ device to induce cell apoptosis, and the possibility to design impedance- based devices for prostate cancer diagnosis are addressed. This book is particularly recommended for students and medical device professionals interested in learning ‘hands-on’ the design and developing process for novel diagnostic devices.

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