Offline fusion of co-registered intravascular ultrasound and frequency domain optical coherence tomography images for the analysis of human atherosclerotic plaques

Aims: To demonstrate the feasibility and potential usefulness of an offline fusion of matched optical coherence tomography (OCT) and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)/virtual histology (IVUS-VH) images. Methods and results: A total of nine matched OCT, IVUS, and IVUS-VH cross-sections were fused according to a methodology described in this report. On the basis of the fused images, an OCT-IVUS-VH tissue classification algorithm is proposed taking into account the individual strength of both techniques. Conclusions: Offline fusion of co-registered IVUS and OCT is feasible and combines the strengths of both imaging modalities, potentially improving the diagnostic accuracy of plaque characterisation.