<unk> , as outlined above, has been the best technology, so far, to demonstrate the anatomy of the artery wall in living animals and humans. It has led to an explosion of better understanding and research on both (a) the behavior of the atherosclerosis process and (b) the effects of different treatment strategies for changing the evolution of the atherosclerosis disease process. This has been important given that atherosclerosis is the single most frequent disease process for the greatest percentage of individuals living in first world countries.<unk>  in the coronary anatomy left main coronary artery (left). The blue outline delineates the cross-sectional area of the lumen of the artery (A1 in the upper right corner), measuring 6.0 mm2. A two-dimensional mapping of the proximal LAD and left main coronary arteries is shown on the right. While the routine use of<unk>  during percutaneous coronary intervention does not improve short term outcomes, there are a number of situations in which<unk>  is of particular use in the treatment of coronary artery disease of the heart. In particular in cases when the degree of stenosis of a coronary artery is unclear,<unk>  can directly quantify the percentage of stenosis and give insight into the anatomy of the plaque. One particular use of<unk>  in the coronary anatomy is in the quantification of left main disease in cases where routine coronary angiography gives equivocal results. Many studies in the past have shown that significant left main disease can increase mortality, and that intervention (either coronary artery bypass graft surgery or percutaneous coronary intervention) to reduce mortality is necessary when the left main stenosis is significant. When using<unk>  to determine whether an individual's left main disease is clinically significant, in terms of the desirability of physical intervention, the two most widely used parameters are the degree of stenosis and the minimal lumen area. A cross sectional area of ≤7 mm² in a symptomatic individual or ≤6 mm² in an asymptomatic individual is considered to be clinically significant and warrants intervention to improve one-year mortality. However, these exact cutoffs are up for debate and different cutoff cross-sectional areas may be used in practice depending on differing interpretations of the trial data. Validating the efficacy of new treatments Because<unk>  is widely available in coronary catheterization labs worldwide and can accurately quantify arterial plaque, especially within the coronary arteries, it is increasingly being used to evaluate newer and evolving strategies for the treatment of coronary artery disease, including the statins and other approaches.
Intravascular ultrasound
Intravascular imaging
Doppler ultrasonography
Intravascular fluorescence
Laser Doppler imaging
Transcranial pulsed ultrasound
Ballistocardiography
Thrombodynamics test