The study, which began in 2018, aims to assess whether preconditioning patients using low-level laser therapy through the skin - known as photobiomodulation - would reduce damage to the heart when a stent is inserted.

The project is being run by Tasmania's Launceston General Hospital Cardiologist Dr Rohit Barthwal and general practitioner Dr Michael Fox.

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After three years, Dr Barthwal said the pair had recruited about 300 patients from across the North of the state, with an interim analysis completed at the end of 2021.

The analysis found trends towards benefits in one group of patients, while results in a second group were equivocal.

Dr Barthwal said cardiovascular disease was one of the leading causes of death in the western world, with Australia recording thousands of deaths each year.

"There are more than 50,000 heart attacks in Australia each year and over 40,000 Australians die from cardiovascular disease annually," he said.

"The treatment of coronary artery disease is lifestyle, lifestyle changes, lifestyle management, medications, percutaneous angioplasty and coronary artery bypass surgery."

About 600 people in northern Tasmania receive a percutaneous angioplasty or stent - which Dr Barthwal describes as a small metal scaffold that keeps the artery open - the sudden rush of blood to the heart can cause damage.

The damage is often minor, however, in some cases, it can be significant.

"Over the last 40-odd-years many interventions have been tried to reduce this damage after and during angioplasty, but they have been either proved to be unsuccessful or difficult to implement in a clinical setting."

He said the benefit of photobiomodulation was its ability to precondition the heart muscle, decreasing inflammation and reducing reperfusion injury.

"It's basically preparing the heart for that damage that will be done during an angioplasty procedure, decreasing the inflammatory components involved in angioplasty," he said.

Dr Barthwal said the therapeutic benefit to patients and clinicians was in the ability to treat people experiencing a heart attack in real-time, as well as reducing damage to the heart when a stent is inserted.

Having received an additional $149,600 in grant funding from the Clifford Craig Foundation, Dr Barthwal said the project could expand further, taking in an additional 200 patients to increase the data sample size.

He said the extra funding and data would see the study concluded this year.