Determination of the precise location and the degree of the Choroidal neovascularization(CNV)lesion is essential for diagnosation Neovascular age-related macular degeneration(AMD)and evaluation the efficacy of treatme...Determination of the precise location and the degree of the Choroidal neovascularization(CNV)lesion is essential for diagnosation Neovascular age-related macular degeneration(AMD)and evaluation the efficacy of treatment.Noninvasive imaging techniques with specific contrast for CNV evaluation are demanded.In this paper,two noninvasive imaging techniques,namely Optical coherence tomography(OCT)and Photoacoustic microscopy(PAM),are combined to provide specific detection of CNV for their complimentary contrast mechanisms.In vivo time-serial evaluation of Laser-induced CNV in rats is present at days 1,3,5,7,14,21 after laser photocoagulation is applied to the rat fundus.Both OCT and PAM show that the CNV increases to its maximum at day 7 and decreases at day 14.Quantification of CNV area and CNV thickness is given.The dual-modal information of CNV is consistent with the histologic evaluation by hematoxylin and eosin(H&E)staining.展开更多
We propose a high-speed all-optic dual-modal system that integrates spectral domain optical coherence tomography and photoacoustic microscopy(PAM).A 3*3 coupler-based interfer-ometer is used to remotely detect the sur...We propose a high-speed all-optic dual-modal system that integrates spectral domain optical coherence tomography and photoacoustic microscopy(PAM).A 3*3 coupler-based interfer-ometer is used to remotely detect the surface vibration caused by photoacoustic(PA)waves.Three outputs of the interferometer are acquired simultaneously with a multi-channel data ac-quisition card.One channel data with the highest PA signal detection sensitivity is selected for sensitivity compensation.Experiment on the phantom demonstrates that the proposed method can sucessfully compensate for the loss of intensity caused by sensitivity variation.The imaging speed of the PAM is improved compared to our previous system.The total time to image a sample with 256×256 pixels is~20s.Using the proposed system,the microvasculature in the mouse auricle is visualized and the blood flow state is accessed.展开更多
To investigate the mechanisms underlying the onset and progression of ischemic stroke,some methods have been proposed that can simultaneously monitor and create embolisms in the animal cerebral cortex.However,these me...To investigate the mechanisms underlying the onset and progression of ischemic stroke,some methods have been proposed that can simultaneously monitor and create embolisms in the animal cerebral cortex.However,these methods often require complex systems and the effect of age on cerebral embolism has not been adequately studied,although ischemic stroke is strongly age-related.In this study,we propose an optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy-based visualized photothrombosis methodology to create and monitor ischemic stroke in mice simultaneously using a 532 nm pulsed laser.We observed the molding process in mice of different ages and presented age-dependent vascular embolism differentiation.Moreover,we integrated optical coherence tomography angiography to investigate age-associated trends in cerebrovascular variability following a stroke.Our imaging data and quantitative analyses underscore the differential cerebrovascular responses to stroke in mice of different ages,thereby highlighting the technique's potential for evaluating cerebrovascular health and unraveling age-related mechanisms involved in ischemic strokes.展开更多
In this work,we present an intravascular dual-mode endoscopic system capable of both intravascular photoacoustic imaging(IVPAI)and intravascular optical coherence tomography(IVOCT)for recognizing spontaneous coronary ...In this work,we present an intravascular dual-mode endoscopic system capable of both intravascular photoacoustic imaging(IVPAI)and intravascular optical coherence tomography(IVOCT)for recognizing spontaneous coronary artery dissection(SCAD)phantoms.IVPAI provides high-resolution and high-penetration images of intramural hematoma(IMH)at different depths,so it is especially useful for imaging deep blood clots associated with imaging phantoms.IVOCT can readily visualize the double-lumen morphology of blood vessel walls to identify intimal tears.We also demonstrate the capability of this dual-mode endoscopic system using mimicking phantoms and biological samples of blood clots in ex vivo porcine arteries.The results of the experiments indicate that the combined IVPAI and IVOCT technique has the potential to provide a more accurate SCAD assessment method for clinical applications.展开更多
Photoacoustic imaging is a potential candidate for in vivo brain imaging,whereas,its imaging performance could be degraded by inhomogeneous multi-layered media,consisted of scalp and skull.In this work,we propose a lo...Photoacoustic imaging is a potential candidate for in vivo brain imaging,whereas,its imaging performance could be degraded by inhomogeneous multi-layered media,consisted of scalp and skull.In this work,we propose a low-artifact photoacoustic microscopy(LAPAM)scheme,which combines conventional acoustic-resolution photoacoustic microscopy with scanning acoustic microscopy to suppress the reflection artifacts induced by multi-layers.Based on similar propagation characteristics of photoacoustic signals and ultrasonic echoes,the ultrasonic echoes can be employed as the filters to suppress the reflection artifacts to obtain low-artifact photoacoustic images.Phantom experiment is used to validate the effectiveness of this method.Furthermore,LAPAM is applied for in-vivo imaging mouse brain without removing the scalp and the skull.Experimental results show that the proposed method successfully achieves the low-artifact brain image,which demonstrates the practical applicability of LAPAM.This work might improve the photoacoustic imaging quality in many biomedical applications which involve tissues with complex acoustic properties,such as brain imaging through scalp and skull.展开更多
Photoacoustic imaging(PAI)is a noninvasive emerging imaging method based on the photoacoustic effect,which provides necessary assistance for medical diagnosis.It has the characteristics of large imaging depth and high...Photoacoustic imaging(PAI)is a noninvasive emerging imaging method based on the photoacoustic effect,which provides necessary assistance for medical diagnosis.It has the characteristics of large imaging depth and high contrast.However,limited by the equipment cost and reconstruction time requirements,the existing PAI systems distributed with annular array transducers are difficult to take into account both the image quality and the imaging speed.In this paper,a triple-path feature transform network(TFT-Net)for ring-array photoacoustic tomography is proposed to enhance the imaging quality from limited-view and sparse measurement data.Specifically,the network combines the raw photoacoustic pressure signals and conventional linear reconstruction images as input data,and takes the photoacoustic physical model as a prior information to guide the reconstruction process.In addition,to enhance the ability of extracting signal features,the residual block and squeeze and excitation block are introduced into the TFT-Net.For further efficient reconstruction,the final output of photoacoustic signals uses‘filter-then-upsample’operation with a pixel-shuffle multiplexer and a max out module.Experiment results on simulated and in-vivo data demonstrate that the constructed TFT-Net can restore the target boundary clearly,reduce background noise,and realize fast and high-quality photoacoustic image reconstruction of limited view with sparse sampling.展开更多
We study the influence of limited-view scanning on the depth imaging of photoacoustic tomography. The situation, in which absorbers are located at different depths with respect to the limited-view scanning trajectory,...We study the influence of limited-view scanning on the depth imaging of photoacoustic tomography. The situation, in which absorbers are located at different depths with respect to the limited-view scanning trajectory, is called depth imaging and is investigated in this paper. The results show that limited-view scanning causes the reconstructed intensity of deep absorbers to be weaker than that of shallow ones and that deep absorbers will be invisible if the scanning range is too small. The concept of effective scanning angle is proposed to analyse that phenomenon. We find that an effective scanning angle can well predict the relationship between scanning angle and the intensity ratio of absorbers. In addition, limited-view scanning is employed to improve image quality.展开更多
Photoacoustic imag ing(PAI)is a nonin vasive biomedical imag ing tech no logy capable of multiscale imag ing of biological samples from orga ns dow n to cells.Multiscale PAI requires differe nt ultraso und tra nsducer...Photoacoustic imag ing(PAI)is a nonin vasive biomedical imag ing tech no logy capable of multiscale imag ing of biological samples from orga ns dow n to cells.Multiscale PAI requires differe nt ultraso und tra nsducers that are flat or focused because the current widely-used piezoelectric transducers are rigid and lack the flexibility to tune their spatial ultrasound responses.Inspired by the rapidly-developing flexible photonics,we exploited the inherent flexibility and low-loss features of optical fibers to develop a flexible fiber-laser ultrasound sensor(FUS)for multiscale PAI.By simply bending the fiber laser from straight to curved geometry,the spatial ultraso und resp onse of the FUS can be tuned for both wide-view optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy at optical diffraction-limited depth(~1 mm)and photoacoustic computed tomography at optical dissipation-limited depth of several centimeters.A radio-frequency demodulation was employed to get the readout of the beat frequency variation of two orthogonal polarization modes in the FUS output,which ensures low-noise and stable ultrasound detection.Compared to traditional piezoelectrical transducers with fixed ultrasound responses once manufactured,the flexible FUS provides the freedom to design multiscale PAI modalities including wearable microscope,intravascular endoscopy,and portable tomography system,which is attractive to fundamental biologic-al/medical studies and clinical applications.展开更多
Photoacoustic imaging,an emerging biomedical imaging modality,holds great promise for preclinical and clinical researches.It combines the high optical contrast and high ultrasound resolution by converting laser excita...Photoacoustic imaging,an emerging biomedical imaging modality,holds great promise for preclinical and clinical researches.It combines the high optical contrast and high ultrasound resolution by converting laser excitation into ultrasonic emission.In order to generate photoacoustic signal e±-ciently,bulky Q-switched solid-state laser systems are most commonly used as excitation sources and hence limit its commercialization.As an alternative,the miniaturized semiconductor laser system has the advantages of being inexpensive,compact,and robust,which makes a signi¯cant e®ect on production-forming design.It is also desirable to obtain a wavelength in a wide range from visible to nearinfrared spectrum for multispectral applications.Focussing on practical aspect,this paper reviews the state-of-the-art developments of low-cost photoacoustic system with laser diode and light-emitting diode excitation source and highlights a few representative installations in the past decade.展开更多
Objective:This paper proposes a new photoacoustic computed tomography(PACT)imaging system employing dual ultrasonic transducers with different frequencies.When imaging complex biological tissues,photoacoustic(PA)signa...Objective:This paper proposes a new photoacoustic computed tomography(PACT)imaging system employing dual ultrasonic transducers with different frequencies.When imaging complex biological tissues,photoacoustic(PA)signals with multiple frequencies are produced simultaneously;however,due to the limited bandwidth of a single-frequency transducer,the received PA signals with specific frequencies may be missing,leading to a low imaging quality.Methods:In contrast to our previous work,the proposed system has a compact volume as well as specific selection of the detection center frequency of the transducer,which can provide a comprehensive range for the detection of PA signals.In this study,a series of numerical simulation and phantom experiments were performed to validate the efficacy of the developed PACT system.Results:The images generated by our system combined the advantages of both high resolution and ideal brightness/contrast.Conclusion:The interchangeability of transducers with different frequencies provides potential for clinical deployment under the circumstance where a single frequency transducer cannot perform well.展开更多
Laser diodes(LDs)have been considered as cost-effective and compact excitation sources to overcome the requirement of costly and bulky pulsed laser sources that are commonly used in photoacoustic microscopy(PAM).Howev...Laser diodes(LDs)have been considered as cost-effective and compact excitation sources to overcome the requirement of costly and bulky pulsed laser sources that are commonly used in photoacoustic microscopy(PAM).However,the spatial resolution and/or imaging speed of previously reported LD-based PAM systems have not been optimized simultaneously.In this paper,we developed a high-speed and high-resolution LD-based PAM system using a continuous wave LD,operating at a pulsed mode,with a repetition rate of 30 kHz,as an excitation source.A hybrid scanning mechanism that synchronizes a one-dimensional galvanometer mirror and a two-dimensional motorized stage is applied to achieve a fast imaging capability without signal averaging due to the high signal-to-noise ratio.By optimizing the optical system,a high lateral resolution of 4.8μm has been achieved.In vivo microvasculature imaging of a mouse ear has been demonstrated to show the high performance of our LD-based PAM system.展开更多
Based on the energy conversion of light into sound,photoacoustic computed tomography(PACT)is an emerging biomedical imaging modality and has unique applications in a range of biomedical fields.In PACT,image formation ...Based on the energy conversion of light into sound,photoacoustic computed tomography(PACT)is an emerging biomedical imaging modality and has unique applications in a range of biomedical fields.In PACT,image formation relies on a process called acoustic inversion from received photoacoustic signals.While most PACT systems perform this inversion with a basic assumption that biological tissues are acoustically homogeneous,the community gradually rea-lizes that the intrinsic acoustic heterogeneity of tissues could pose distortions and artifacts to finally formed images.This paper surveys the most recent research progress on acoustic het-erogeneity correction in PACT.Four major strategies are reviewed in detail,including half-time or partial-time reconstruction,autofocus reconstruction by optimizing sound speed maps,joint reconstruction of optical absorption and sound speed maps,and ultrasound computed tomog-raphy(USCT)enhanced reconstruction.The correction of acoustic heterogeneity helps improve the imaging performance of PACT.展开更多
Photoacoustic(PA)imaging has been widely used in biomedical research and preclinical studies during the past two decades.It has also been explored for nondestructive testing and evaluation(NDT/E)and for industrial app...Photoacoustic(PA)imaging has been widely used in biomedical research and preclinical studies during the past two decades.It has also been explored for nondestructive testing and evaluation(NDT/E)and for industrial applications.This paper describes the basic principles of PA technology for NDT/E and its applications in recent years.PA technology for NDT/E includes the use of a modulated continuous-wave laser and a pulsed laser for PA wave excitation,PA-generated ultrasonic waves,and all-optical PA wave excitation and detection.PA technology for NDT/E has demonstrated broad applications,including the imaging of railway cracks and defects,the imaging of Li metal batteries,the measurements of the porosity and Young’s modulus,the detection of defects and damage in silicon wafers,and a visualization of underdrawings in paintings.展开更多
Simultaneous photoacoustic and ultrasound(PAUS)imaging has attracted increasing attention in biomedical research to probe the optical and mechanical properties of tissue.However,the resolution for majority of the exis...Simultaneous photoacoustic and ultrasound(PAUS)imaging has attracted increasing attention in biomedical research to probe the optical and mechanical properties of tissue.However,the resolution for majority of the existing PAUS systems is on the order of 1 mm as the majority are designed for clinical use with low-frequency US detection.Here we developed a concurrent PAUS microscopy that consists of optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy(OR-PAM)and high-frequency US pulse-echo imaging.This dual-modality system utilizes a novel coaxial dual-element ultrasonic transducer(DE-UST)and provides anatomical and functional information with complementary contrast mechanisms,achieving a spatial resolution of 7μm for PA imaging and 106μm for US imaging.We performed phantom studies to validate the system’s performance.The vasculature of a mouse’s hind paw was imaged to demonstrate the potential of this hybrid system for biomedical applications.展开更多
Photoacoustic(PA)microscopy is being increasingly used to visualize the microcirculation of the brain cortex at the micron level in living rodents.By combining it with long-term cranial window techniques,vasculature c...Photoacoustic(PA)microscopy is being increasingly used to visualize the microcirculation of the brain cortex at the micron level in living rodents.By combining it with long-term cranial window techniques,vasculature can be monitored over a period of days extending to months through a field of view.To fulfill the requirements of long-term in vivo PA imaging,the cranial window must involve a simple and rapid surgical procedure,biological compatibility,and sufficient optical-acoustic transparency,which are major challenges.Recently,several cranial window techniques have been reported for longitudinal PA imaging.Here,the development of chronic cranial windows for PA imaging is reviewed and its technical details are discussed,including window installation,imaging quality,and longitudinal stability.展开更多
Fiber laser technology has experienced a rapid growth over the past decade owing to increased applications in precision measurement and optical testing,medical care,and industrial applications,including laser welding,...Fiber laser technology has experienced a rapid growth over the past decade owing to increased applications in precision measurement and optical testing,medical care,and industrial applications,including laser welding,cleaning,and manufacturing.A fiber laser can output laser pulses with high energy,a high repetition rate,a controllable wavelength,low noise,and good beam quality,making it applicable in photoacoustic imaging.Herein,recent developments in fiber-laser-based photoacoustic microscopy(PAM)are reviewed.Multispectral PAM can be used to image oxygen saturation or lipid-rich biological tissues by applying a Q-switched fiber laser,a stimulated Raman scattering-based laser source,or a fiber-based supercontinuum source for photoacoustic excitation.PAM can also incorporate a single-mode fiber laser cavity as a high-sensitivity ultrasound sensor by measuring the acoustically induced lasing-frequency shift.Because of their small size and high flexibility,compact head-mounted,wearable,or hand-held imaging modalities and better photoacoustic endoscopes can be enabled using fiber-laser-based PAM.展开更多
Optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy(OR-PAM)has been shown to be an excellent tool for high-resolution imaging of microvasculature,and quantitative analysis of the microvascula-ture can provide valuable informa...Optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy(OR-PAM)has been shown to be an excellent tool for high-resolution imaging of microvasculature,and quantitative analysis of the microvascula-ture can provide valuable information for the early diagnosis and treatment of various vascular-related diseases.In order to address the characteristics of weak signals,discontinuity and small diameters in photoacoustic microvascular images,we propose a method adaptive to the micro-vascular segmentation in photoacoustic images,including Hessian matrix enhancement and the morphological connection operators.The accuracy of our vascular segmentation method is quantitatively evaluated by the multiple criteria.To obtain more precise and continuous mi-crovascular skeletons,an improved skeleton extraction framework based on the multistencil fast marching(MSFM)method is developed.We carried out in vivo OR-PAM microvascular imaging in mouse ears and subcutaneous hepatoma tumor model to verify the correctness and superiority of our proposed method.Compared with the previous methods,our proposed method can extract the microvascular network more completely,continuously and accurately,and provide an ef-fective solution for the quantitative analysis of photoacoustic microvascular images with many small branches.展开更多
Most existing reconstruction algorithms for photoacoustic imaging (PAI) assume that transducers used to receive ultrasound signals have infinite bandwidth. When transducers with finite bandwidth are used, this assumpt...Most existing reconstruction algorithms for photoacoustic imaging (PAI) assume that transducers used to receive ultrasound signals have infinite bandwidth. When transducers with finite bandwidth are used, this assumption may result in reduction of the imaging contrast and distortions of reconstructed images. In this paper, we propose a novel method to compensate the finite bandwidth effect in PAI by using an optimal filter in the Fourier domain. Simulation results demonstrate that the use of this method can improve the contrast of the reconstructed images with finite-bandwidth ultrasound transducers.展开更多
Photoacoustic imaging, also called optoacoustic tomography, is a non-destructive biomedical imaging technique which employs acoustic detection to image optical absorption contrast with high-resolution deep into scatte...Photoacoustic imaging, also called optoacoustic tomography, is a non-destructive biomedical imaging technique which employs acoustic detection to image optical absorption contrast with high-resolution deep into scattering tissue. Photoacoustic imaging overcomes the limit of high light scattering in the tissue and realized in vivo high-resolution and high-contrast imaging in the deep tissue. Photoacoustic imaging technology has been rapid development in recent years and make constantly breakthrough from a technical level to the application level. This paper describes the basic principles of photoacoustic imaging technology and make an example analysis by multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT).展开更多
All-optically integrated photoacoustic(PA)and optical coherence tomography(OCT)dualmode imaging technology that could o®er comprehensive pathological information for accurate diagnosis in clinic has gradually bec...All-optically integrated photoacoustic(PA)and optical coherence tomography(OCT)dualmode imaging technology that could o®er comprehensive pathological information for accurate diagnosis in clinic has gradually become a promising imaging technology in the aspect of biomedical imaging during the recent years.This review refers to the technology aspects of alloptical PA detection and system evolution of optically integrated PA and OCT,including Michelson interferometer dual-mode imaging system,Fabry–Perot(FP)interferometer dualmode imaging system and Mach–Zehnder interferometer dual-mode imaging system.It is believed that the optically integrated PA and OCT has great potential applications in biomedical imaging.展开更多
基金This work was supported by the Natural National Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.61675134,61307015,81827807 and 68175123)Science and Technology innovation project of Shanghai Science and Technology Commission(19441905800)Project of State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology,Optometry and Visual Science,Wenzhou Medical University(K181002).
文摘Determination of the precise location and the degree of the Choroidal neovascularization(CNV)lesion is essential for diagnosation Neovascular age-related macular degeneration(AMD)and evaluation the efficacy of treatment.Noninvasive imaging techniques with specific contrast for CNV evaluation are demanded.In this paper,two noninvasive imaging techniques,namely Optical coherence tomography(OCT)and Photoacoustic microscopy(PAM),are combined to provide specific detection of CNV for their complimentary contrast mechanisms.In vivo time-serial evaluation of Laser-induced CNV in rats is present at days 1,3,5,7,14,21 after laser photocoagulation is applied to the rat fundus.Both OCT and PAM show that the CNV increases to its maximum at day 7 and decreases at day 14.Quantification of CNV area and CNV thickness is given.The dual-modal information of CNV is consistent with the histologic evaluation by hematoxylin and eosin(H&E)staining.
基金This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.61771119,61901100 and 62075037)the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province(Grant Nos.H2019501010,F2019501132,E2020501029 and F2020501040).
文摘We propose a high-speed all-optic dual-modal system that integrates spectral domain optical coherence tomography and photoacoustic microscopy(PAM).A 3*3 coupler-based interfer-ometer is used to remotely detect the surface vibration caused by photoacoustic(PA)waves.Three outputs of the interferometer are acquired simultaneously with a multi-channel data ac-quisition card.One channel data with the highest PA signal detection sensitivity is selected for sensitivity compensation.Experiment on the phantom demonstrates that the proposed method can sucessfully compensate for the loss of intensity caused by sensitivity variation.The imaging speed of the PAM is improved compared to our previous system.The total time to image a sample with 256×256 pixels is~20s.Using the proposed system,the microvasculature in the mouse auricle is visualized and the blood flow state is accessed.
基金supported by University of Macao,China,Nos.MYRG2022-00054-FHS and MYRG-GRG2023-00038-FHS-UMDF(to ZY)the Macao Science and Technology Development Fund,China,Nos.FDCT0048/2021/AGJ and FDCT0020/2019/AMJ and FDCT 0011/2018/A1(to ZY)Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province of China,No.EF017/FHS-YZ/2021/GDSTC(to ZY)。
文摘To investigate the mechanisms underlying the onset and progression of ischemic stroke,some methods have been proposed that can simultaneously monitor and create embolisms in the animal cerebral cortex.However,these methods often require complex systems and the effect of age on cerebral embolism has not been adequately studied,although ischemic stroke is strongly age-related.In this study,we propose an optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy-based visualized photothrombosis methodology to create and monitor ischemic stroke in mice simultaneously using a 532 nm pulsed laser.We observed the molding process in mice of different ages and presented age-dependent vascular embolism differentiation.Moreover,we integrated optical coherence tomography angiography to investigate age-associated trends in cerebrovascular variability following a stroke.Our imaging data and quantitative analyses underscore the differential cerebrovascular responses to stroke in mice of different ages,thereby highlighting the technique's potential for evaluating cerebrovascular health and unraveling age-related mechanisms involved in ischemic strokes.
基金funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC)under grants 61627827,61705068the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province 2021J01813the Fujian Medical University Research Foundation of Talented Scholars XRCZX2021004.
文摘In this work,we present an intravascular dual-mode endoscopic system capable of both intravascular photoacoustic imaging(IVPAI)and intravascular optical coherence tomography(IVOCT)for recognizing spontaneous coronary artery dissection(SCAD)phantoms.IVPAI provides high-resolution and high-penetration images of intramural hematoma(IMH)at different depths,so it is especially useful for imaging deep blood clots associated with imaging phantoms.IVOCT can readily visualize the double-lumen morphology of blood vessel walls to identify intimal tears.We also demonstrate the capability of this dual-mode endoscopic system using mimicking phantoms and biological samples of blood clots in ex vivo porcine arteries.The results of the experiments indicate that the combined IVPAI and IVOCT technique has the potential to provide a more accurate SCAD assessment method for clinical applications.
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.12027808,11874217,11834008,81900875,and 81770973)Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province,China(Grant No.BK 20181077)。
文摘Photoacoustic imaging is a potential candidate for in vivo brain imaging,whereas,its imaging performance could be degraded by inhomogeneous multi-layered media,consisted of scalp and skull.In this work,we propose a low-artifact photoacoustic microscopy(LAPAM)scheme,which combines conventional acoustic-resolution photoacoustic microscopy with scanning acoustic microscopy to suppress the reflection artifacts induced by multi-layers.Based on similar propagation characteristics of photoacoustic signals and ultrasonic echoes,the ultrasonic echoes can be employed as the filters to suppress the reflection artifacts to obtain low-artifact photoacoustic images.Phantom experiment is used to validate the effectiveness of this method.Furthermore,LAPAM is applied for in-vivo imaging mouse brain without removing the scalp and the skull.Experimental results show that the proposed method successfully achieves the low-artifact brain image,which demonstrates the practical applicability of LAPAM.This work might improve the photoacoustic imaging quality in many biomedical applications which involve tissues with complex acoustic properties,such as brain imaging through scalp and skull.
基金supported by National Key R&D Program of China[2022YFC2402400]the National Natural Science Foundation of China[Grant No.62275062]Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Optical Imaging Technology[Grant No.2020B121201010-4].
文摘Photoacoustic imaging(PAI)is a noninvasive emerging imaging method based on the photoacoustic effect,which provides necessary assistance for medical diagnosis.It has the characteristics of large imaging depth and high contrast.However,limited by the equipment cost and reconstruction time requirements,the existing PAI systems distributed with annular array transducers are difficult to take into account both the image quality and the imaging speed.In this paper,a triple-path feature transform network(TFT-Net)for ring-array photoacoustic tomography is proposed to enhance the imaging quality from limited-view and sparse measurement data.Specifically,the network combines the raw photoacoustic pressure signals and conventional linear reconstruction images as input data,and takes the photoacoustic physical model as a prior information to guide the reconstruction process.In addition,to enhance the ability of extracting signal features,the residual block and squeeze and excitation block are introduced into the TFT-Net.For further efficient reconstruction,the final output of photoacoustic signals uses‘filter-then-upsample’operation with a pixel-shuffle multiplexer and a max out module.Experiment results on simulated and in-vivo data demonstrate that the constructed TFT-Net can restore the target boundary clearly,reduce background noise,and realize fast and high-quality photoacoustic image reconstruction of limited view with sparse sampling.
基金Project supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(Grant No.2012CB921504)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.10874088,10904069,and 11028408)the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province,China(Grant No.SBK201021985)
文摘We study the influence of limited-view scanning on the depth imaging of photoacoustic tomography. The situation, in which absorbers are located at different depths with respect to the limited-view scanning trajectory, is called depth imaging and is investigated in this paper. The results show that limited-view scanning causes the reconstructed intensity of deep absorbers to be weaker than that of shallow ones and that deep absorbers will be invisible if the scanning range is too small. The concept of effective scanning angle is proposed to analyse that phenomenon. We find that an effective scanning angle can well predict the relationship between scanning angle and the intensity ratio of absorbers. In addition, limited-view scanning is employed to improve image quality.
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(61775083,61705082,61805102,and 61860206002)the Local Innovative and Research Teams Project of Guangdong Pearl River Talents Program(2019BT02X105)Guangzhou Science and Technology Plan(201904020032).
文摘Photoacoustic imag ing(PAI)is a nonin vasive biomedical imag ing tech no logy capable of multiscale imag ing of biological samples from orga ns dow n to cells.Multiscale PAI requires differe nt ultraso und tra nsducers that are flat or focused because the current widely-used piezoelectric transducers are rigid and lack the flexibility to tune their spatial ultrasound responses.Inspired by the rapidly-developing flexible photonics,we exploited the inherent flexibility and low-loss features of optical fibers to develop a flexible fiber-laser ultrasound sensor(FUS)for multiscale PAI.By simply bending the fiber laser from straight to curved geometry,the spatial ultraso und resp onse of the FUS can be tuned for both wide-view optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy at optical diffraction-limited depth(~1 mm)and photoacoustic computed tomography at optical dissipation-limited depth of several centimeters.A radio-frequency demodulation was employed to get the readout of the beat frequency variation of two orthogonal polarization modes in the FUS output,which ensures low-noise and stable ultrasound detection.Compared to traditional piezoelectrical transducers with fixed ultrasound responses once manufactured,the flexible FUS provides the freedom to design multiscale PAI modalities including wearable microscope,intravascular endoscopy,and portable tomography system,which is attractive to fundamental biologic-al/medical studies and clinical applications.
基金the National Natural Scienti¯c Foundation of China(11664011,11304129)the Science and Technology Program of Jiangxi,China(20151BAB217025,20132BBG70033,GJJ150790)the Intramural Top-notch Youth Talent Program of JXSTNU,China(2013QNBJRC003).
文摘Photoacoustic imaging,an emerging biomedical imaging modality,holds great promise for preclinical and clinical researches.It combines the high optical contrast and high ultrasound resolution by converting laser excitation into ultrasonic emission.In order to generate photoacoustic signal e±-ciently,bulky Q-switched solid-state laser systems are most commonly used as excitation sources and hence limit its commercialization.As an alternative,the miniaturized semiconductor laser system has the advantages of being inexpensive,compact,and robust,which makes a signi¯cant e®ect on production-forming design.It is also desirable to obtain a wavelength in a wide range from visible to nearinfrared spectrum for multispectral applications.Focussing on practical aspect,this paper reviews the state-of-the-art developments of low-cost photoacoustic system with laser diode and light-emitting diode excitation source and highlights a few representative installations in the past decade.
基金supported by National Key R&D program of China(No.2019YFB1312400)Hong Kong Health and Medical Research Fund(HMRF)(No.06171066)CUHK-Direct(No.134997202).
文摘Objective:This paper proposes a new photoacoustic computed tomography(PACT)imaging system employing dual ultrasonic transducers with different frequencies.When imaging complex biological tissues,photoacoustic(PA)signals with multiple frequencies are produced simultaneously;however,due to the limited bandwidth of a single-frequency transducer,the received PA signals with specific frequencies may be missing,leading to a low imaging quality.Methods:In contrast to our previous work,the proposed system has a compact volume as well as specific selection of the detection center frequency of the transducer,which can provide a comprehensive range for the detection of PA signals.In this study,a series of numerical simulation and phantom experiments were performed to validate the efficacy of the developed PACT system.Results:The images generated by our system combined the advantages of both high resolution and ideal brightness/contrast.Conclusion:The interchangeability of transducers with different frequencies provides potential for clinical deployment under the circumstance where a single frequency transducer cannot perform well.
基金Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission,No.ITS/036/19Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,No.26203619.
文摘Laser diodes(LDs)have been considered as cost-effective and compact excitation sources to overcome the requirement of costly and bulky pulsed laser sources that are commonly used in photoacoustic microscopy(PAM).However,the spatial resolution and/or imaging speed of previously reported LD-based PAM systems have not been optimized simultaneously.In this paper,we developed a high-speed and high-resolution LD-based PAM system using a continuous wave LD,operating at a pulsed mode,with a repetition rate of 30 kHz,as an excitation source.A hybrid scanning mechanism that synchronizes a one-dimensional galvanometer mirror and a two-dimensional motorized stage is applied to achieve a fast imaging capability without signal averaging due to the high signal-to-noise ratio.By optimizing the optical system,a high lateral resolution of 4.8μm has been achieved.In vivo microvasculature imaging of a mouse ear has been demonstrated to show the high performance of our LD-based PAM system.
基金supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC)under Grant No.61705216in part by the Major Science and Technology Project of Anhui Province under Grant No.18030801138+4 种基金in part by the Zhe-jiang Lab under Grant No.2019MC0AB01in part by the Research Funds of the Double First-Class Initiativein part by the Research Fund of the USTC Smart City Institutein part by the CAS Pioneer Hundred Talents Programin part by the Startup Fund of the University of Science and Technology of China(USTC)
文摘Based on the energy conversion of light into sound,photoacoustic computed tomography(PACT)is an emerging biomedical imaging modality and has unique applications in a range of biomedical fields.In PACT,image formation relies on a process called acoustic inversion from received photoacoustic signals.While most PACT systems perform this inversion with a basic assumption that biological tissues are acoustically homogeneous,the community gradually rea-lizes that the intrinsic acoustic heterogeneity of tissues could pose distortions and artifacts to finally formed images.This paper surveys the most recent research progress on acoustic het-erogeneity correction in PACT.Four major strategies are reviewed in detail,including half-time or partial-time reconstruction,autofocus reconstruction by optimizing sound speed maps,joint reconstruction of optical absorption and sound speed maps,and ultrasound computed tomog-raphy(USCT)enhanced reconstruction.The correction of acoustic heterogeneity helps improve the imaging performance of PACT.
基金S.-L.Chen acknowledges funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.61775134C.Tian acknowledges funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.61705216the Anhui Science and Technology Department,No.18030801138.
文摘Photoacoustic(PA)imaging has been widely used in biomedical research and preclinical studies during the past two decades.It has also been explored for nondestructive testing and evaluation(NDT/E)and for industrial applications.This paper describes the basic principles of PA technology for NDT/E and its applications in recent years.PA technology for NDT/E includes the use of a modulated continuous-wave laser and a pulsed laser for PA wave excitation,PA-generated ultrasonic waves,and all-optical PA wave excitation and detection.PA technology for NDT/E has demonstrated broad applications,including the imaging of railway cracks and defects,the imaging of Li metal batteries,the measurements of the porosity and Young’s modulus,the detection of defects and damage in silicon wafers,and a visualization of underdrawings in paintings.
文摘Simultaneous photoacoustic and ultrasound(PAUS)imaging has attracted increasing attention in biomedical research to probe the optical and mechanical properties of tissue.However,the resolution for majority of the existing PAUS systems is on the order of 1 mm as the majority are designed for clinical use with low-frequency US detection.Here we developed a concurrent PAUS microscopy that consists of optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy(OR-PAM)and high-frequency US pulse-echo imaging.This dual-modality system utilizes a novel coaxial dual-element ultrasonic transducer(DE-UST)and provides anatomical and functional information with complementary contrast mechanisms,achieving a spatial resolution of 7μm for PA imaging and 106μm for US imaging.We performed phantom studies to validate the system’s performance.The vasculature of a mouse’s hind paw was imaged to demonstrate the potential of this hybrid system for biomedical applications.
基金This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,Nos.62022037,61775028,81571722,61528401Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province,Nos.2019ZT08Y191,SZBL2020090501013+1 种基金Shenzhen Science and Technology ProgramNos.KQTD20190929172743294,JCYJ20200109141222892Startup grant from Southern University of Science and Technology。
文摘Photoacoustic(PA)microscopy is being increasingly used to visualize the microcirculation of the brain cortex at the micron level in living rodents.By combining it with long-term cranial window techniques,vasculature can be monitored over a period of days extending to months through a field of view.To fulfill the requirements of long-term in vivo PA imaging,the cranial window must involve a simple and rapid surgical procedure,biological compatibility,and sufficient optical-acoustic transparency,which are major challenges.Recently,several cranial window techniques have been reported for longitudinal PA imaging.Here,the development of chronic cranial windows for PA imaging is reviewed and its technical details are discussed,including window installation,imaging quality,and longitudinal stability.
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,Nos.61775083 and 61805102.
文摘Fiber laser technology has experienced a rapid growth over the past decade owing to increased applications in precision measurement and optical testing,medical care,and industrial applications,including laser welding,cleaning,and manufacturing.A fiber laser can output laser pulses with high energy,a high repetition rate,a controllable wavelength,low noise,and good beam quality,making it applicable in photoacoustic imaging.Herein,recent developments in fiber-laser-based photoacoustic microscopy(PAM)are reviewed.Multispectral PAM can be used to image oxygen saturation or lipid-rich biological tissues by applying a Q-switched fiber laser,a stimulated Raman scattering-based laser source,or a fiber-based supercontinuum source for photoacoustic excitation.PAM can also incorporate a single-mode fiber laser cavity as a high-sensitivity ultrasound sensor by measuring the acoustically induced lasing-frequency shift.Because of their small size and high flexibility,compact head-mounted,wearable,or hand-held imaging modalities and better photoacoustic endoscopes can be enabled using fiber-laser-based PAM.
基金supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Grants[Nos.91739117 and 61701279]
文摘Optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy(OR-PAM)has been shown to be an excellent tool for high-resolution imaging of microvasculature,and quantitative analysis of the microvascula-ture can provide valuable information for the early diagnosis and treatment of various vascular-related diseases.In order to address the characteristics of weak signals,discontinuity and small diameters in photoacoustic microvascular images,we propose a method adaptive to the micro-vascular segmentation in photoacoustic images,including Hessian matrix enhancement and the morphological connection operators.The accuracy of our vascular segmentation method is quantitatively evaluated by the multiple criteria.To obtain more precise and continuous mi-crovascular skeletons,an improved skeleton extraction framework based on the multistencil fast marching(MSFM)method is developed.We carried out in vivo OR-PAM microvascular imaging in mouse ears and subcutaneous hepatoma tumor model to verify the correctness and superiority of our proposed method.Compared with the previous methods,our proposed method can extract the microvascular network more completely,continuously and accurately,and provide an ef-fective solution for the quantitative analysis of photoacoustic microvascular images with many small branches.
文摘Most existing reconstruction algorithms for photoacoustic imaging (PAI) assume that transducers used to receive ultrasound signals have infinite bandwidth. When transducers with finite bandwidth are used, this assumption may result in reduction of the imaging contrast and distortions of reconstructed images. In this paper, we propose a novel method to compensate the finite bandwidth effect in PAI by using an optimal filter in the Fourier domain. Simulation results demonstrate that the use of this method can improve the contrast of the reconstructed images with finite-bandwidth ultrasound transducers.
基金Supported by National Basic Research Program of China(973 Program)(No.2015CB755500)Scientific Research and Equipment Development Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences(YZ201359)
文摘Photoacoustic imaging, also called optoacoustic tomography, is a non-destructive biomedical imaging technique which employs acoustic detection to image optical absorption contrast with high-resolution deep into scattering tissue. Photoacoustic imaging overcomes the limit of high light scattering in the tissue and realized in vivo high-resolution and high-contrast imaging in the deep tissue. Photoacoustic imaging technology has been rapid development in recent years and make constantly breakthrough from a technical level to the application level. This paper describes the basic principles of photoacoustic imaging technology and make an example analysis by multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT).
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(61627827,61331001,81630046and 91539127)the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province,China(2015B020233016,2014B020215003and 2014A020215031)+1 种基金the Distinguished Young Teacher Project in Higher Education of Guangdong,China(YQ2015049)the Science and Technology Youth Talent for Special Project of Guangdong,China(2015TQ01X882).
文摘All-optically integrated photoacoustic(PA)and optical coherence tomography(OCT)dualmode imaging technology that could o®er comprehensive pathological information for accurate diagnosis in clinic has gradually become a promising imaging technology in the aspect of biomedical imaging during the recent years.This review refers to the technology aspects of alloptical PA detection and system evolution of optically integrated PA and OCT,including Michelson interferometer dual-mode imaging system,Fabry–Perot(FP)interferometer dualmode imaging system and Mach–Zehnder interferometer dual-mode imaging system.It is believed that the optically integrated PA and OCT has great potential applications in biomedical imaging.