[Basic principles of optical coherence tomography in interventional cardiology]

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a technique of visualizing biological tissues. This technique versus intravascular ultrasound study has high resolution. OCT has proved to be effective in interventional cardiology due to a resolution of 10 microm. As of now, there are two crucially new different OCT flow charts. One is tomography, the basis for which is a Michelson interferometer and an up-to-date tomography scanner, such as a Fourier transform spectral interferometer. This paper describes the brief history of OCT and the principle of its operation, compares two basically different technologies, and depicts the limitations of the technique when performed in different ways.