The main indicator for endarterectomy is the grade of stenosis, which results in severe overtreatment. Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) can provide patient-specific assessment of plaque morphology, and thereby vulnerability. A pilot… Click to show full abstract
The main indicator for endarterectomy is the grade of stenosis, which results in severe overtreatment. Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) can provide patient-specific assessment of plaque morphology, and thereby vulnerability. A pilot study of PAI on carotid plaques in patients (n=16) was performed intraoperatively with a hand-held PAI system. By compensating for motion, the photoacoustic (PA) signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) could be increased by 5 dB in vivo. PA signals from hemorrhagic plaques had different characteristics compared to the signals from the carotid blood pool. This study is a key step towards a non-invasive application of PAI to detect vulnerable plaques.
               
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