?:definition
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Ultrasound vascular catheters designed for intravascular imaging of blood vessels (e.g., coronary arteries, peripheral arteries). These devices usually include an ultrasonic phased-array transducer, typically operating at a frequency from 20 to 30 MHz, mounted on or near the distal tip of a thin-lumen catheter (e.g., 5 Fr). More rigid catheters in the 3.5 to 9 Fr range employing a mechanical transducer rotation of the ultrasound beam are also used. Ultrasound image vascular catheters are used for in vivo qualitative and quantitative assessment and measuring luminal dimensions of vessels; they can also be used to characterize the thickness of plaque and, to some extent, the plaque composition (i.e., atheroma, calcification, muscular media) in atherosclerotic vessels.
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