Visualization of coronary atherosclerotic plaques in patients using different imaging modalities

Different imaging modalities have been developed over the last several years in order to better characterize the atherosclerotic plaque and attempt to predict those in peril of complication. Specific information such as variations in temperature, plaque stiffness and calcification level is currently being researched as well as biological and chemical markers. Since vulnerable plaques cannot be identified by stress testing or angiography, new modalities such as intravascular ultrasound, intracoronary thermography, intravascular palpography, optical coherence tomography, intravascular radiation detection, magnetic resonance imaging, radio nucleotide imaging, and spectroscopy are under investigation. The ultimate goal is to visualize the plaque and its characteristics, stratify its risk for acute events, and are able to apply this modality to the general population of cardiac patients, while exposing the patient to minimal risk and having adequate positive and negative predictive values. In this paper we consider to analyze and compare the Atherosclerotic Plaque detection methods.