Abstract

Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death in the world population. Optical imaging has the advantages of micron-level spatial resolution, high sensitivity for subcellular localization, lack of radiation and cost-effectiveness, which make it attractive for imaging atherosclerotic plaques and clots. This article provides a brief review of optical imaging tools for cardiovascular disease diagnosis.

Keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Atherosclerosis; Optical imaging; Early diagnosis

Abbreviations: AIEgens: Aggregation-Induced Emission Luminogens; ACQ: Aggregation-Caused Quenching; CT: Microcomputed Tomography; CVD: Cardiovascular Disease; ILSI: Intravascular Laser Speckle Imaging; IVPA: Intravascular Photoacoustic Imaging; NIR: Near-Infrared; MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging; OCT: Optical Coherence Tomography; PAI: Photoacoustic Imaging; PET: Positron Emission Tomography