PROSPECT (Providing Regional Observations to Study Predictors of Events in the Coronary Tree) was the first prospective, international, multicenter, natural history study using 3-vessel multimodality intracoronary imaging to quantify the clinical event rate due to atherosclerotic progression and to identify those lesions which place patients at risk for unexpected adverse cardiovascular events. This landmark study of 700 Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) patients was co-funded by Volcano and utilized Volcano's proprietary VH® IVUS technology to classify lesions by plaque type. Three-year clinical event data was presented by Dr. Gregg Stone of Columbia University Medical Center on September 24, 2009 at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference in San Francisco, CA.
Volcano's proprietary VH IVUS technology uses advanced spectral analysis of the ultrasound signal to characterize atherosclerotic plaque into four different colorized tissue types: fibrous, fibro-fatty, dense calcium, and necrotic core. VH IVUS images can be created only with Volcano's imaging systems and Eagle Eye® Gold digital IVUS catheter.