ABSTRACT
Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) has emerged as a valuable adjunct, overcoming many of angiography’s limitations for a number of clinical applications. Images produced from IVUS are cross-sections of the artery perpendicular to the flow direction. The most dangerous form of cardiovascular disease is atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, which leads to narrowing and stiffening of arteries supplying blood to the heart. Atherosclerosis arises from repeated injury, subsequent inflammation, and repair of the vascular wall. The most common interventional procedure to treat atherosclerosis is percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). In PTCA, a balloon catheter is inserted into the arterial vasculature via the femoral artery over a smaller guide wire. The ultimate goal of an integrated device is to significantly change clinical outcomes by reducing intimal injury and subsequent restenosis rates. By verifying stent deployment with the same catheter after the procedure, complete deployment can be easily validated in pullback mode.
