Fourier Domain a Hugh Boost to Optical Coherence Tomography for Cardiovascular Applications

Entities Mentioned

• Volcano
• Nicolaus Copernicus University
• Adam Sukiennik
• LightLab Imaging

1. 

   Feature Of The Week 1/25/09. By the early 1990's both Ophthalmology and Cardiology were being investigated as potential applications of OCT (see for example Huang et al). But while OCT for ophthalmologic exams developed into a main stream application in less than 10 years with well over 10,000 units currently fielded, 100,000’s patients diagnosed, and over $200M/year in revenue for a variety of Companies, cardiology has lagged behind. This is due to a variety of issues including the more invasive and complex nature of the procedure and the implicit demand on the technology as well as the higher regulatory barriers. The advancement of Fourier domain has been a big boost toward the feasibility of commercial cardiology applications; in part due to enabling increased scan speed thus minimizing the time an occlusion balloon or flush is needed to overcome scattering due to blood. This image is from a recent publication by Adam Sukiennik, et al from Nicolaus Copernicus University and shows a comparison of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and OCT (see Article). The OCT image shows significantly smaller minimal lumen area due to IVUS inability to visualize soft structures. While IVUS still has advantages in penetration depth OCT is the clear winner in resolution and can extract new and important features such as unstable atherosclerotic plaque. Results such as these have dramatically rekindled interest in OCT for cardiology. Currently Lightlab Imaging has demonstrated over 10,000 human procedures (see Article) and Volcano has projected the OCT market at over $1B (see Article). Submit your image using feedback link below.

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