Preparation of PCI Balloons: What Is the Best Method to Avoid Air in the Balloon? A Comparison of Different Methods of Connecting PCI Balloons and the Inflation Syringe while Removing Air from the Balloon

Abstract

As the techniques to connect percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) balloons and the inflation syringe vary in the instructions for use and in practice, we measured the amount of air in PCI balloons after testing three connection methods to an inflation syringe. Following the preparation using one of the three methods, 114 balloons and stent balloons were tested four times. Method 1 connected the syringe and the balloon catheter directly after purging and filling the lumen, while method 3 omitted the purging and filling process. With method 2, the catheter lumen was purged, filled and fully vented via a three-way valve. The primary endpoint answered whether air remained in the balloon, and if so, the secondary endpoint indicated the total volume of remaining air. The connection with a three-way valve achieved significantly less air in the inflated balloon as compared with either direct connection approach (27% vs. 44% and 51%; p = 0.015). For the direct connection, no significant difference between purging and filling the lumen prior to making the connection or not existed. According to these findings, the best method to connect a PCI balloon to the inflation syringe while removing air involves using a three-way valve.

Impact of residual air trap in balloon on laser treatment of tubular tissue

“…Numerical simulations (optical and thermal) of balloon laser ablation may provide a better understanding on the effect of the air-trap in the balloon catheter and may help determine the optimal dosage as an effective tool to improve the clinical outcome of the laser treatment of stenosis in a tubular tissue. Although a few studies investigated the challenges of the air-trap, 25,29,30 the optical-thermal simulations have yet been proposed.…”

“…To avoid the unpredictable optical-thermal responses of the treated tissue, various deflation procedures were applied to remove the residual air trapped in the balloon. 29,30 We hypothesized that the amount of residual air removed from the balloon could influence the spatial distributions of laser light and laser-induced temperature in the tissue during irradiation. Various numbers of balloon deflations to remove the residual air were tested to identify the optimal treatment condition, deliver laser light circumferentially, and achieve uniform coagulative necrosis in tubular tissue.…”

“…The aim of the current study was to evaluate the optical‐thermal effects of air trap in a balloon on laser treatment of tubular tissue numerically and experimentally. To avoid the unpredictable optical‐thermal responses of the treated tissue, various deflation procedures were applied to remove the residual air trapped in the balloon 29,30 . We hypothesized that the amount of residual air removed from the balloon could influence the spatial distributions of laser light and laser‐induced temperature in the tissue during irradiation.…”