Intravascular ultrasound imaging (IVUS) is a catheter based imaging technique in which a miniaturized crystal is mounted at the tip of a catheter to provide high resolution, two- dimensional ultrasound images of the vascular system. With ultrasound crystals of the appropriate imaging frequency, any region of the vascular system can be imaged intraluminally by this catheter system. IVUS images are generated from ultrasound waves that are reflected from the vessel wall. The reflections demonstrate the morphologic details of the vessel and the geometry of the lumen (Figure 1). A detailed analysis of the entire length of the vessel can be made by simply advancing or withdrawing the catheter. The vessel wall morphology and lumen geometry obtained with IVUS have been shown to correlate well with histologic specimens.

Date Published: 17 September 1993
PDF: 15 pages
Proc. SPIE 1894, Clinical Applications of Modern Imaging Technology, (17 September 1993); doi: 10.1117/12.154935

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1894:
Clinical Applications of Modern Imaging Technology
Abund Ottokar Wist, Editor(s)