Patent ID: 8882674

Claim:
A method comprising: imaging a portion of a blood vessel of a patient in vivo, said portion comprising a fibrous cap of an atheroma, wherein said imaging utilizes an in vivo imaging device with a resolution level of at least fifty micrometers and capable of detecting a microcalcification in a fibrous cap of an atheroma; determining from the imaging the presence of at least one microcalcification within the fibrous cap of the atheroma wherein the at least one microcalcification has a diameter of no less than five and no more than fifty micrometers, the size and location of the at least one microcalcification within the cap, and the thickness of the fibrous cap, wherein the at least one microcalcification has a diameter of no less than five and no more than fifty micrometers; and predicting a risk of rupture of the cap based on the determined features of: the presence of at least one microcalcification having a diameter of no less than five and no more than fifty micrometers within the fibrous cap of the atheroma wherein the presence of the at least one microcalcification existing within the fibrous cap correlates with an increased risk of rupture; the size of the at least one microcalcification; the location of the at least one microcalcification within the cap; and the thickness of the fibrous cap.