http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/4122/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/7817/ 2006-06-14T00:00:00Z Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) has emerged as a highly accurate tool for the serial assessment of the natural history of coronary atherosclerosis and to evaluate the effect of different conventional and emerging drug therapies on the progression of atherosclerosis. The contemporary and future application of IVUS is linked to the study of different applications of the analysis of radiofrequency data, both for the improvement of plaque characterization and for the assessment of mechanical properties of plaques. Overall, such insightful analysis of the radiofrequency data might potentially aid the detection of plaques with allegedly high-risk characteristics and monitor their natural history in prospective natural history studies. This thesis provides important data regarding the internal and external validation of spectral analysis of radiofrequency data for the assessment of plaque composition in vivo.