Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Lipid Detection In Pig Arteries Using Intravascular Photoacoustic Imaging, Jieying Mai, Yingchun Cao, Ayeeshik Kole, Michael Sturek, Ji-Xin Cheng

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and worldwide. Each year over 370,000 people died from coronary artery disease in America. As the primary form of coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis behaves as lipid-rich plaque development inside an artery wall. Vulnerable plaques are those prone to rupture, which may result in thrombus or even death. Typical hallmarks of a vulnerable plaque include thin fibrous cap, a large lipid-rich necrotic core and inflammatory infiltrate. The identification and accurate detection of these lipid depositions in the arterial wall is crucial in the diagnosis of atherosclerosis. However, none of …