Balloon catheters represent the first milestone of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), a revolutionary, minimally invasive technique pioneered by Dr. Andreas Grüntzig in the 1970s. PCI, a balloon assisted dilatation of narrowed arteries (also called PTCA or angioplasty), quickly proliferated and became a therapeutic standard. Later in the 1990s, outcome of PCI was dramatically improved by the advent of stents, and especially in the 2000s by drug eluting stents (DES) implanted along with balloon inflation.

Today, balloon catheters meanwhile just considered a generic, auxiliary tool assisting stent implantation, celebrate their brilliant comeback as sophisticated combination devices - drug eluting balloons (DEB). The addition of targeted drug release functionality to angioplasty balloons represents a quantum leap in vascular interventions.

Coated with sophisticated therapeutic drugs formulations, DEB have been shown to further improve clinical outcomes of PCI procedures, thereby replacing conventional balloons and stents in certain indications.

The substantial advantages of DEB over DES are related to (1) a more uniform drug release at the treatment site, and (2) to the absence of foreign implant material in the treated artery, i.e. no permanent implant is left behind. This enhances the attractiveness of DEB therapy vs. stenting for repeat interventions (to treat restenosis, a re-narrowing of the diseased artery), in challenging anatomy such as small vessels and bifurcations, and in complex interventions in occluded peripheral vessels.

Growing clinical evidence indicates that drug eluting balloons represent a promising, versatile treatment modality that will increase efficacy of vascular interventions.

Further enhancements of DEB technology are anticipated.