Ultrasonic technology helps clear clogged arteries Published: Tags: Tech used for kidney stones is now helping clear heart arteries HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – A technology commonly used for treating kidney stones to now helping heart specialists open clogged arteries. Memorial Healthcare cardiologist Dr. Juan Pastor is among the first in South Florida to utilize intravascular lithotripsy, or I.V.L, to apply sonic pressure wave therapy to arteries with severe calcification. Typically surgeons use small rotational sanding devices to shave away the plaque. “One of the problems we see with those devices is once you start sanding or shaving the plaque, the particles start going downstream and sometimes overwhelms that drainage system by creating chest pain and small heart attacks,” Pastor said.