摘要： This special issue focusses on advances in non-invasive vascular imaging with some outstanding articles on cutting-edge imaging technologies and their clinical use. For many years, invasive catheter angiography with its attendant risks was the only method to obtain more detailed information on the vasculature than plain radiographs could provide, although only the outline of the lumen is visualised directly. Indeed, the risks of invasive angiography are such that they have had to be factored into risk assessment prior to embarking on imaging investigation. For example, the landmark NASCET trial of carotid endarterectomy was reported in terms of the number needed to both investigate and treat to provide bene?t in the secondary prevention of stroke since the investigation itself (invasive carotid arteriography) as well as the proposed surgical intervention could both cause precisely the morbidity/mortality that the strategy was intending to avoid, i.e., stroke. As such, a shift to non-invasive carotid imaging in this scenario if equally accurate would mean a lower number to treat for the same bene?t as the potential morbidity/mortality simply associated with investigation had been negated.