Optical clearing-aided photoacoustic microscopy with enhanced resolution and imaging depth

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Photoacoustic Imaging
• Microscopy

Background:

• Optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM) suffers from limited spatial resolution and penetration depth due to strong light scattering in tissues.
• Effective deep-tissue imaging remains a challenge for OR-PAM, hindering its diagnostic and research applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficacy of glycerol as an optical clearing agent to mitigate light scattering in OR-PAM.
• To enhance the imaging performance of OR-PAM for improved visualization of biological structures.

Main Methods:

• Utilized glycerol as an optical clearing agent applied to biological samples.
• Performed in vitro and in vivo imaging experiments using OR-PAM with and without glycerol treatment.
• Quantitatively assessed improvements in spatial resolution and maximum penetration depth.

Main Results:

• Glycerol treatment significantly reduced light scattering effects within the tissue.
• Demonstrated substantial enhancement in both spatial resolution and maximum imaging depth in OR-PAM.
• Successfully visualized deeper structures with improved clarity compared to conventional OR-PAM.

Conclusions:

• Glycerol is an effective optical clearing agent for OR-PAM, overcoming depth-dependent imaging limitations.
• This approach offers a promising strategy to expand the capabilities of OR-PAM for preclinical and clinical applications.
• Optical clearing with glycerol represents a valuable advancement in photoacoustic microscopy techniques.