Most arterial diseases can be treated non-invasively. However, for some areas such as below-the-knee arteries and the aorta the durability of the treatment is lacking, requiring additional interventions in 15-45% of cases within several years depending on the location.
It is therefore necessary to better see the result of a non-invasive vascular treatment. Optical coherency tomography (OCT) uses several optical techniques and materials to image arteries and stents with a micrometer resolution and is therefore very suitable. This proposal will develop several key steps in imaging equipment, imaging protocol and image analysis that are required for an effective clinical use of this technology.