Sophinese Iskander-Rizk1, MSc; Min Wu2, PhD; Geert Springeling3, BSc; Heleen M.M. van Beusekom1, PhD; Frits Mastik1, ND; Maaike te Lintel Hekkert1, BSc; Robert H.S.H Beurskens1, BSc; Ayla Hoogendoorn1, MSc; Eline M.J. Hartman1, MD; Antonius F.W. van der Steen1,4, PhD; Jolanda J. Wentzel1, PhD; Gijs van Soest1, PhD
1. Department of Cardiology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; 2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technical University Eindhoven, Eindhoven, the Netherlands; 3. Department of Experimental Medical Instrumentation, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; 4. Department of Imaging Physics, Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Delft, the Netherlands
Prospective identification of lipid-rich vulnerable plaque has remained an elusive goal. Intravascular photoacoustics, a hybrid optical and ultrasonic technology, was developed as a tool for lipid-rich plaque imaging. Here, we present the first in vivo images of lipid-rich coronary atherosclerosis acquired with this new technology in a large animal model, and relate them to independent catheter-based imaging and histology.