In vivo Near Infrared Fluorescence (NIRF) Intravascular Molecular Imaging of Inflammatory Plaque, a Multimodal Approach to Imaging of AtherosclerosisMarcella A. Calfon 1, Amir Rosenthal 1,2, Georgios Mallas 1,3, Adam Mauskapf 1, R. Nika Nudelman 2, Vasilis Ntziachristos 2, Farouc A. Jaffer 1
1Cardiovascular Research Center and Cardiology Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 2Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging, Helmholtz Zentrum München und Technische Universität München, 3Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Northeastern University
We detail a new near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) catheter for 2-dimensional intravascular molecular imaging of plaque biology in vivo. The NIRF catheter can visualize key biological processes such as inflammation by reporting on the presence of plaque-avid activatable and targeted NIR fluorochromes. The catheter utilizes clinical engineering and power requirements and is targeted for application in human coronary arteries. The following research study describes a multimodal imaging strategy that utilizes a novel in vivo intravascular NIRF catheter to image and quantify inflammatory plaque in proteolytically active inflamed rabbit atheromata.
