Performed in conjunction with cardiac catheterization, intracoronary ultrasound is an invasive procedure that uses high frequency sound waves (ultrasound) to create images of the heart and coronary arteries internally. This catheter-based diagnostic procedure provides detailed and accurate measurements of lumen and vessel size, plaque area and volume, and the location of key anatomical landmarks.

Intracoronary ultrasound has also proven valuable in the proper placement and optimal expansion of stents, as well as the differentiation among four different varieties of plaque: fibrous, fibro-fatty, necrotic core and dense calcium.