Thermography: Basic Principles of Data Acquisition

Potential Mechanisms Of Increased Heat Generation By Vulnerable Plaques

Vulnerable plaques are characterized by several pathologic features including: (1) a thin fibrous cap (<65 lm); (2) a large lipid pool; and (3) activated macrophages near the fibrous cap. a large lipid core, a thin fibrous cap, high neo-vessel formation, and infiltration by inflammatory cells. Several of these features (ie, presence and activation of inflammatory cells, neo-vessel formation, and fibrous cap thinning) can potentially lead to increased production and dissipation to heat the plaque surface (Naghavi, et al., 2003). This concept is based on the hypothesis that if atherosclerotic lesions are inflamed by virtue of inflammatory cell infiltration, they will give off more heat than normal areas of the arterial system (ten Have, Gijsen, Wentzel, Slager, & van der Steen, Temperature distribution in atherosclerotic coronary arteries: influence of plaque geometry and flow (a numerical study), 2004), (Shah, 2003).