JOPLIN, Mo. — There are more and more options to tackle problems with your heart and cardiovascular system. And technology often plays a big role in the fix.

Dr. Ryan Longnecker, Cardiologist, said, “Technology has advanced so much in the last 20 years in cardiology, it’s really remarkable.”

One change involves a leadless pacemaker.

“Basically as opposed to the usual way of making a pocket in the skin up here and then feeding a lead or two into the ventricle. Now we can actually come from the leg as well.”

Stents have been used to help keep blood flowing for decades, but how they’re used is improved by technology.

“Our ability to deliver stents into the coronary artery where we could not before and had to refer patients to bypass surgery – the stent tech has gotten to where they’re more deliverable. They can go around tighter bends if you will and more calcified vessels.”

Another technological change involves catheters – that’s called a Guidezilla.

“That allows us to get a small catheter further into a vessel to provide more support.”

Even diamond tipped drill tips – long used to clean out calcified arteries, have seen tweaks.

“There is some newer technology with that device, and we have another device that kind of allows us to bore out the arteries. That’s called a CSI device – both of those are pretty neat.”