Fantastic voyage through the cardiovascular system.

Abstract

Please see page 34 for the article by Jongbloed et al. (doi: 10.1016/S1525-2167(03)00051-9) and page 93 for the article by Scholten et al. (doi: 10.1016/S1525-2167(03)00049-0) to which this editorial pertains. In 1963 Isaac Asimov published the science fiction novel entitled Fantastic Voyage .1 The novel begins with a scientific breakthrough of Promethean proportions signally certain victory for the side that possesses this revolutionary technology. Scientists developed miniaturization allowing large objects to be made small. Everyone was quick to see the strategic role of miniaturization. However, the chief scientist who was completing the development of the project sustained a blood clot deep in the brain and the only conceivable means of saving this genius was to apply his own miniaturization invention. A crew of scientists boarded a small submarine named Proteus . The submarine and its crew were miniaturized and injected into the blood stream of the stroke victim. Using a map of the circulatory system, the crew of the Proteus navigated the delicate and treacherous vascular system to the site of the blood clot. The rest is history. Laser lysis of the clot was successful, the crew of the Proteus returned safely, and the patient …