Electrical impedance spectroscopy for intravascular diagnosis of atherosclerosis

The goal of this article is the conception, development, and evaluation of micro system-based impedance spectroscopy for the diagnosis of atherosclerosis. For this, it was investigated basically how the changes of tissue parameter on the cellular level can affect the measured impedance by using a single cell model and shown that cellular growth and distribution affect the impedance of tissues. Based on a cell layer model, it was found that a cellular alteration induced by atherosclerotic pathology is well reflected in the measured impedance of cell assemblies. For the intravascular impedance measurement, a balloon impedance catheter with integrated flexible microelectrodes was developed. From an in situ test with animal model, it was successfully demonstrated that the aortas containing atherosclerotic fatty plaques can be distinguished from normal aortas by intravascular impedance measurement.