Compliance Measurements for Diagnosis of Atherosclerosis

This project will result in a catheter and associated instrumentation that will use measurements ofof coronary arteries caused by atherosclerotic lesions to diagnose and characterize those lesions. Tinserted into the coronary arteries to a location proximal to the lesion. It will generate low-press1 and 50 kHz to diagnose the lesion. The change in the compliance or distensibility, of the vessel nwill cause some of the pulses energy to be reflected back toward the catheter. The catheter will meawhich will indicate the character, the fractional blockage and the length of the lesion. All measureproximal to the lesion, so measurements can be made regardless of the fractional blockage caused bycompliance is most sensitive to the character of the lesion (soft vs. calcified), and by the residuafractional blockage), and so this catheter will be a unique tool, capable of complete characterizatisingle measurement. It will be useful for guiding the choice of angioplasty or atherectomy therapy,assessing the effectiveness of the therapy used.