Vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque rupture leading to thrombosis is the major cause of acute coronary syndromes. While early detection or prevention the vulnerable plaque would be the only way to reduce the risk of this catastrophic life-threatening event, there is frustratingly little progress in either. Lack of suitable animal models has considerably hampered the research progress in understanding the mechanisms occurring in the development of plaque rupture. This review summarizes the currently available vulnerable plaque animal models and invasive and noninvasive imaging modalities used to detect vulnerable plaques, including high frequency duplex ultrasound, coronary tomographic angiography (CTA), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), optical coherence tomography (OCT), intravascular ultrasound elastography, and inflammatory markers.