Atherosclerosis is the main pathogenesis of the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Now early and effective identifying of the vulnerable plaques has been a hot point of the medical field, and it has very important clinical value in treatment and prognosis of the atherosclerosis. The plaques’ component and distribution is bound up with the vulnerability of plaques and cardiovascular events caused by the plaque rupture. This article mainly summarizes the progress of imaging detection means in the vulnerable plaque′s components of the characteristics.