Advances in IVUS/OCT and Future Clinical Perspective of Novel Hybrid Catheter System in Coronary Imaging

Abstract

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) have been \ndeveloped and improved as both diagnostic and guidance tools for interventional \nprocedures over the past three decades. IVUS has a resolution of 100\xc2\xb5m with a \nhigh tissue penetration and capability of assessing the entire structure of a coronary \nartery including the external elastic membrane, whereas OCT has a higher resolution of \n10\xe2\x80\x9320\xc2\xb5m to assess endoluminal structures with a limited tissue penetration compared \nto IVUS. Recently, two companies, CONAVI and TERUMO, integrated IVUS and OCT into \na single catheter system. With their inherent strength and limitations, the combined IVUS \nand OCT probes are complementary and work synergistically to enable a comprehensive \ndepiction of coronary artery. In this review, we summarize the performance of the two \nintracoronary imaging modalities\xe2\x80\x94IVUS and OCT\xe2\x80\x94and discuss the expected potential \nof the novel hybrid IVUS\xe2\x80\x93OCT catheter system in the clinical field