Seeing Arteries in 3D
Reported November 18, 2008
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — New technology is giving doctors a dramatic look into patients coronary arteries.
Using a new optical imaging technique called optical frequency-domain imaging (OFDI), doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital were able to capture three-dimensional, microscopic views of patients coronary arteries, allowing them to see areas of inflammation and plaque deposits in a whole new way.
This is the first human demonstration of a technique that has the potential to change how cardiologists look at coronary arteries, Gary Tearney, M.D., Ph.D., of the MGH Pathology Department and the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at MGH in Boston, was quoted as saying. The wealth of information that we can now obtain will undoubtedly improve our ability to understand coronary artery disease and may allow cardiologists to diagnose and treat plaque before it leads to serious problems.
OFDI could replace optical coherence tomography (OCT), another imaging technology that only allows doctors to examine one tissue at a time. OFDI can look at over 1,000 points simultaneously.
Source: Massachusetts General Hospital press release, November 17, 2008