Optical molecular imaging in atherosclerosis.
Current imaging techniques focus on evaluating the anatomical structure of blood vessel wall and atherosclerotic plaque. These techniques fail to evaluate the biological processes which take place in the vessel wall and inside the plaque. Novel imaging techniques like optical imaging can evaluate the biological and cellular processes inside the plaque and provide information which can be vital for better patient risk stratification. This review highlights the various optical imaging techniques and their application in assessing biological processes in atherosclerosis.
Subramanian
Sharath
S
Cardiac MR-PET-CT Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, 165 Cambridge Street, Suite 400, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
Jaffer
Farouc A
FA
Tawakol
Ahmed
A
D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000473:pathology*; D001808:Blood Vessels; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*; D015336:Molecular Probe Techniques / Q000639:trends*; D041622:Tomography, Optical / Q000639:trends*