Patent ID: 7570983

Claim:
A method for supporting at least one of diagnosis and therapy of a pathological change of a blood vessel in a subject, comprising the steps of: (a) at a point in time, acquiring a single image of a blood vessel using an imaging modality, said single image being selected from the group consisting of pixel images and voxel images; (b) from said single image, making a measurement of an existing quantity of non-calcified plaque and a measurement of an existing quantity of calcium-rich plaque associated with the blood vessel; (c) determining an indicator value dependent on the respective quantities of non-calcified plaque and calcium-rich plaque from said measurement, and on the composition of said plaque in said blood vessel at said point and time; (d) storing at least one limit value in a data processor and, in said data processor, comparing said indicator value with said at least one limit value to obtain a comparison result; and (e) at an output unit associated with said data processor, presenting an output proposal dependent on said comparison result, selected from the group consisting of a proposal for a measure to be undertaken on the patient and a proposal for no measure.