Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) is a molecular imaging technology. Unlike conventional reporter gene imaging, which is usually based on fluorescence, photoacoustic reporter gene imaging relies only on optical absorption. This work demonstrates several key merits of PAT using lacZ, one of the most widely used reporter genes in biology. We show that the expression of lacZ can be imaged by PAT as d...

Multimodality imaging based on multifunctional nanocomposites holds great promise to fundamentally augment the capability of biomedical imaging. Specifically, photoacoustic and fluorescence dual-modality imaging is gaining much interest because of their non-invasiveness and the complementary nature of the two modalities in terms of imaging resolution, depth, sensitivity, and speed. Herein, usin...

Photoacoustic imaging is an emerging technology that can provide anatomic, functional, and molecular information about biological tissue. Intravascular spectroscopic and molecular photoacoustic imaging can potentially improve the identification of atherosclerotic plaque composition, the detection of inflammation, and ultimately the risk stratification of atherosclerosis. In this study, a first-...

A dual mode scanning acoustic microscope is investigated, yielding simultaneously images with optical and acoustical contrast. Short laser pulses are used to excite acoustic waves in a sample for the photoacoustic imaging mode. At the same time the pulses irradiate a conical target generating limited diffraction acoustic waves (X-waves) for large depth of field ultrasound imaging. For photoacou...

Planar sensor arrays have advantages when used for photoacoustic imaging: they do not require the imaging target to be enclosed, and they are easier to manufacture than curved arrays. However, planar arrays have a limited view of the acoustic field due to their finite size; therefore, not all of the acoustic waves emitted from a photoacoustic source can be recorded. This loss of data results in...

The use of a pulsed fibre laser as an excitation source for photoacoustic tomography has been investigated. Fibre lasers have the advantage of being compact, robust and efficient compared to traditional excitation sources used for photoacoustic tomography (e.g. Q-switched Nd:YAG pumped OPO or dye systems). Their high pulse repetition frequencies and adjustable pulse duration, shape and duty cyc...

The development of low-cost and fast photoacoustic microscopy systems enhances the clinical applicability of photoacoustic imaging systems. To this end, we present a laser scanning laser diode-based photoacoustic microscopy system. In this system, a 905 nm, 325 W maximum output peak power pulsed laser diode with 50 ns pulsewidth is utilized as the light source. A combination of aspheric and cyl...

Recently, we developed a reflection-mode relaxation photoacoustic microscope, based on saturation intensity, to measure picosecond relaxation times using a nanosecond laser. Here, using the different relaxation times of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin molecules, both possessing extremely low fluorescence quantum yields, the oxygen saturation was quantified in vivo with single-wavelength ...

Ultrasound (US) and photoacoustic (PA) multimodality imaging has the advantage of combining good acoustic resolution with high optical contrast. The use of an all-optical scanhead for both imaging modalities can simplify integration of the two systems and miniaturize the imaging scanhead. Herein we propose and demonstrate an all-optical US/PA scanhead using a thin plate for optoacoustic generat...

For photoacoustic imaging, usually point-like detectors are used. As a special sensing technology for photoacoustic imaging, integrating detectors have been investigated that integrate the acoustic pressure over an area or line that is larger than the imaged object. Different kinds of optical fiber-based detectors are compared regarding their sensitivity and resolution in three-dimensional phot...