Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) have been
developed and improved as both diagnostic and guidance tools for interventional
procedures over the past three decades. IVUS has a resolution of 100µm with a
high tissue penetration and capability of assessing the entire structure of a coronary
artery including the external elastic membrane, whereas OCT has a higher resolution of
10–20µm to assess endoluminal structures with a limited tissue penetration compared
to IVUS. Recently, two companies, CONAVI and TERUMO, integrated IVUS and OCT into
a single catheter system. With their inherent strength and limitations, the combined IVUS
and OCT probes are complementary and work synergistically to enable a comprehensive
depiction of coronary artery. In this review, we summarize the performance of the two
intracoronary imaging modalit