Arteriosclerosis is one of the most common causes of stroke and heart attack in western industrialized nations. The popularly known 'hardening of the arteries' is caused, among other things, by so-called plaques, deposits in the blood vessels. In the 'Plaque-CharM' project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, a new diagnostic system is being developed which should be used for the early detection and characterization of plaques. In order to be able to examine the vessels in a minimally invasive manner, an extremely miniaturized radar sensor with a newly developed silicon chip based on IHP-BiCMOS technology is integrated into the tip of a catheter.

Project duration: 2012 - 2016