MEDICAL

Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to test an excimer laser system developed by Irvine-based Advanced Interventional Systems to open clogged arteries of the heart.

So far 13 hospitals nationwide have started testing the instrument since the beginning of 1989. Robert Wall, AIS president and chief executive officer, said an excimer laser is a “cool” laser that removes plaque without causing the kind of unintended damage often caused by thermal lasers.

Wall said the company so far has done more than 240 treatments of heart disease by threading highly flexible catheters from the leg to diseased vessels of the heart. He said the treatment has had an 83% initial success rate and the company is collecting data on long-term results. He said he expects to have enough test results next April to file for FDA approval to begin marketing the catheter.