A Korean science research institute has developed a new technology to analyze fatty deposits in blood vessels.

The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science said Friday that it had successfully generated a three-dimensional image of fatty material built up in the arteries of lab rats through the use of a laser microscope.

The institute says the technology will enable early diagnosis of arteriosclerosis in humans and the analysis of fatty materials in blood vessels from any stage in the disorder.

The researchers plan to develop, using this technology, an endoscope that goes directly inside blood vessels.

The institute’s research has been published by Circulation Research.