Hybrid intravascular ultrasound and optical coherence tomography catheter for imaging of coronary atherosclerosis

Abstract

Preliminary ex vivo images using a hybrid IVUS-OCT catheter demonstrated feasibility in using the device for intracoronary imaging of atherosclerosis. Future studies will include in vivo imaging and larger samples sizes to enable quantitative comparisons of tissue characterization and feature identification using hybrid imaging catheters versus standalone IVUS and OCT imaging techniques. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Clinical Utility and Significance of Intravascular Ultrasound and Optical Coherence Tomography in Guiding Percutaneous Coronary Interventions

“…Because both modalities have advantages and disadvantages and may complement each other, it is unlikely that one will replace the other. Recent exvivo study demonstrated the feasibility of a hybrid IVUS and OCT catheter for intracoronary imaging of atherosclerosis, 48 and other hybrid catheters are currently under development. Until combined devices become available, selective use of IVUS or OCT by the operator to obtain necessary, complementary information on lesions is a practical option.…”

Understanding Why and When Optical Coherence Tomography Does Not Detect Vulnerable Plaques

“…22 Prototype combined IVUS and OCT catheters have been used in animal models. [23][24][25][26][27] OCT has been combined with near-infrared autofluorescence to produce clinical images and, potentially, remove much of the ambiguity in the identification of lipid from OCT alone. 28,29 If combined imaging technologies are the answer, then the question becomes which ones.…”

Miniature optical coherence tomography-ultrasound probe for automatically coregistered three-dimensional intracoronary imaging with real-time display

“…[9][10][11] Independently, Li et al 12 designed a similar hybrid OCT-IVUS system and used it for in vitro human cadaver imaging. Although Li's design enables colocalized imaging, the side-by-side design prevents coaxial IVUS-OCT imaging and true image coregistration.…”

“…For the OCT subprobe, we chose a ball-lens design, which enables less insertion loss and stronger interfaces 14 than the traditional Gradient-index (GRIN) lens design. 12 Ball lenses also have the potential to be manufactured in large quantities while maintaining constant performance. A single-mode fiber was fusion-spliced to a fiber spacer (cladding OD: 0.125 mm; reflective index: 1.457) using a splicing workstation.…”

“…This curvy structure demands a probe with high flexibility, small diameter, and short length of the rigid part to provide safe access to the coronary arteries. In previously reported probe designs, [9][10][11][12] either the probe's OD is too large or the rigid part is too long, both of which potentially reduce the safety of catheter interventions. The probe previously reported by our group has a 0.7-mm OD but a rigid part as long as ∼3.5 mm, 10 while the probe reported by Li 12 has a 2.5-mmlong rigid part, but an OD as large as 1.0 mm.…”