Recent advances in photoacoustic endoscopy

Imaging based on photoacoustic effect relies on illuminating with short light pulses absorbed by tissue absorbers, resulting in thermoelastic expansion, giving rise to ultrasonic waves. The ultrasonic waves are then detected by detectors placed around the sample. Photoacoustic endoscopy (PAE) is one of four major implementations of photoacoustic tomography that have been developed recently. The prototype PAE was based on scanning mirror system that deflected both the light and the ultrasound. A recently developed mini-probe was further miniaturized, and enabled simultaneous photoacoustic and ultrasound imaging. This PAE-endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) system can offer high-resolution vasculature information in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and display differences between optical and mechanical contrast compared with single-mode EUS. However, PAE for endoscopic GI imaging is still at the preclinical stage. In this commentary, we describe the technological improvements in PAE for possible clinical application in endoscopic GI imaging. In addition, we discuss the technical details of the ultrasonic transducer incorporated into the photoacoustic endoscopic probe.