A Newly Developed mm-Wave Sensor for Detecting Plaques of Arterial Vessels.

Background: Microcalcifications within the fibrous cap of the arteriosclerotic plaques lead to the accrual of plaque-destabilizing mechanical stress. New techniques for plaque screening with small detectors and the ability to differentiate between the smooth and hard elements of plaque formation are necessary.

Method: Vascular plaque formations are characterized as calcium phosphate containing structures organized as hydroxylapatite resembling the mineral whitlockite.

Resonant marker design and fabrication techniques for device visualization during interventional magnetic resonance imaging.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has great potential as an imaging modality for guiding minimally invasive interventions because of its superior soft tissue contrast and the possibility of arbitrary slice positioning while avoiding ionizing radiation and nephrotoxic iodine contrast agents. The major constraints are: limited patient access, the insufficient assortment of compatible instruments and the difficult device visualization compared to X-ray based techniques. For the latter, resonant MRI markers, fabricated by using the wire-winding technique, have been developed.