The walls that line human coronary arteries have been imaged for the first time in 3-D, a team of researchers says. Such images will allow cardiologists to see inside patients’ arteries more clearly and check for areas of inflammation or plaque deposits that can cause a heart attack.
"This is the first human demonstration of a technique that has the potential to change how cardiologists look at coronary arteries," said researcher Dr. Gary Tearney, associate professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School. "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."