New technology helps detect coronary heart disease

• April 25, 2024

When an individual is suspected of having coronary artery disease (CAD), standard tests of diagnosis are the CT scans to visualize the arterial flow and the activity of the heart.

Scientists in U.S developed a tomography technique with a resolution 10 times greater than currently available, this allows to observe the details of the cellular structures of the arteries.

This new technology is called optical coherence microtomography or MicroOCT and will help improve the understanding of the EAC. The tomography, creates images by sections to explore, for example, the operation of the heart and visualize the blood flow in the veins and arteries and their irrigation to and from the heart muscle and the brain.

New technology detects heart disease in the early stages

It will allow to penetrate the tissue with images to visualize what is happening to cellular level . Using a new type of lenses and more advanced components; with a source of infrared light close to create detailed images of the inner surfaces of the blood vessels with a resolution equivalent to that of a low power microscope.

The MicroOCT it has the contrast and resolution that is required to investigate individual cells, including features that can identify vulnerable plaques within the coronary artery.

With this resolution you can identify plates that can be broken, which will reveal the most detailed information so far of tissues in three dimensions; before it had not been possible to obtain clear images of smaller structures of 10 micrometers .

Why Coronary Artery Disease occurs?

The EAC occurs when coronary arteries responsible for supplying blood (and therefore oxygen) to the cardiac muscle, they harden and narrow, obstructing the Blood flow .

This hardening is mainly due to the accumulation of substances, such as cholesterol , and other debris that form plaques in the walls of the arteries. Is obstruction can lead to angina or have a heart attack .

Is disease is the disorder of heart most common and is the leading cause of death in many countries.

In this way the high level of representation of the MicroOCT opens the possibility of observing these microscopic characteristics in patients, which will have implications for improving the diagnosis Y therapeutic control of the illness.