Quantitative spectroscopic photoacoustic imaging: a review

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Medical Imaging
• Photoacoustic Imaging

Background:

• Accurate quantification of chromophore concentrations is crucial for advanced photoacoustic imaging applications.
• Current photoacoustic imaging methods often struggle with precise concentration measurements, limiting functional and molecular insights.
• Developing robust quantitative photoacoustic imaging techniques is an ongoing area of research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a comprehensive review of quantitative photoacoustic imaging.
• To elucidate the challenges associated with obtaining absolute chromophore concentrations.
• To discuss current methodologies and future directions in the field.

Main Methods:

• Review of inverse problem formulations in quantitative photoacoustic imaging.
• Analysis of the nonlinear and ill-posed nature of these inverse problems.
• Explanation of various proposed solution techniques and their inherent limitations.

Main Results:

• Identification of key challenges in achieving absolute chromophore quantification.
• Discussion of the limitations of existing methods for solving the inverse problem.
• Overview of the current state-of-the-art in quantitative photoacoustic imaging.

Conclusions:

• Quantitative photoacoustic imaging is essential for precise functional and molecular imaging.
• Solving the nonlinear and ill-posed inverse problems remains a significant challenge.
• Further research is needed to overcome limitations and advance quantitative photoacoustic imaging capabilities.