The ability to identify the culprit carotid plaque represents a key goal in carotid artery imaging. Although an array of non-invasive imaging techniques can detect a wide spectrum of complementary high-risk characteristics, no single modality can reliably identify vulnerable plaques associated with future stroke development. Substantial histological data suggests that specific plaque components identify patients at high-risk for future ipsilateral stroke and cardiovascular events. This implies that investigators need to look beyond the traditional paradigm where the basis for carotid endarterectomy were formulated by an invasive imaging modality that provided no information on the arterial wall composition. Alternative imaging strategies are therefore required targeting not only in vivo carotid morphology but also plaque biology and disease activity. This is fundamental to optimal risk-stratification and appropriate selection of patients for high-risk vascular intervention. One new approach is to use non-invasive molecular imaging targeted at plaque biology using hybrid systems such as positron emission tomography-magnetic resonance imaging.