Intravascular dual-modality optical coherence tomography and multichannel near-infrared fluorescence inflammation imaging with the cathepsin-activatable LUM015 imaging agent

We report the use of our multimodal near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) and OCT imaging system and catheter to perform the first imaging of LUM015 inflammatory activity in rabbit models of atherosclerosis in vivo. Using co-injection and multi-channel intravascular NIRF-OCT, we compared LUM015 (6.2 mg/kg) and preclinical ProSense (VM110, 3.5 mg/kg) fluorescence in the same subject. We found that co-registered fluorescence carpet maps were remarkably similar with a PCC of 0.51 and a Mander’s overlap coefficient of 0.79. Results suggest that LUM015 will be a viable clinical option for intracoronary imaging of plaque inflammatory activity in patients.