UC Irvine

New optical imaging techniques that provide contrast to study both the anatomy and composition of atherosclerotic plaques can be utilized to better understand the formation, progression and clinical complications of human coronary artery disease. We present a dual-modality fiber-based optical imaging system for simultaneous microstructural and molecular analysis of atherosclerotic plaques that combines optical coherence tomography (OCT) and two-photon luminescence (TPL) imaging. Experimental results from ex vivo human coronary arteries show that OCT and TPL optical contrast in recorded OCT-TPL images is complimentary and in agreement with histological analysis. Molecular composition (e.g., lipid and oxidized-LDL) detected by TPL imaging can be overlaid onto plaque microstructure depicted by OCT, providing new opportunities for atherosclerotic plaque identification and characterization.