Another configuration of the same sensors can measure the forces on the artery walls produced by blood flows, identifying spots where back currents may be promoting plaque formation.

The next step will be to embed the MEMS sensors into angiogram catheters, and show that they can accurately make the same distinctions, first in animals, then in human subjects.

Every year, approximately one million Americans undergo angiograms, according to the National Institutes of Health. Heart attacks are the leading cause of deaths in the United States, accounting for approximately one-fifth of total annual mortality according to the American Hearth Association.

And "coronary artery disease is rising worldwide because of changes in diet in developing nations, and parallel increases in obesity and diabetes in the West," said Hsiai. .

Source: University of Southern California