Early detection of vulnerable plaques is the critical step in the prevention of acute coronary events. Morphology, composition, and mechanical property of a coronary artery have been demonstrated to be the key characteristics for the identification of vulnerable plaques. Several intravascular multimodal imaging technologies providing co-registered simultaneous images have been developed and applied in clinical studies to improve the characterization of atherosclerosis. In this paper, the authors review the present system and probe designs of representative intravascular multimodal techniques. In addition, the scientific innovations, potential limitations, and future directions of these technologies are also discussed.

中文翻译：

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用于表征动脉粥样硬化的多模态血管内成像技术


早期发现易损斑块是预防急性冠脉事件的关键步骤。冠状动脉的形态、成分和机械特性已被证明是识别易损斑块的关键特征。几种提供共同配准同步图像的血管内多模态成像技术已被开发并应用于临床研究，以改善动脉粥样硬化的特征。在本文中，作者回顾了代表性血管内多模式技术的现有系统和探针设计。此外，还讨论了这些技术的科学创新、潜在局限性和未来方向。