In vivo study of endometriosis in mice by photoacoustic microscopy

Endometriosis (EM) impacts the healthcare and the quality of life for women of reproductive age. However, there is no reliable noninvasive diagnosis method for either animal study or clinical use. In this work, a novel imaging method, photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) was employed to study the EM on the mouse model. Our results demonstrated the PAM noninvasively provided the high contrast and 3D imaging of subcutaneously implanted EM tissue in the nude mouse in vivo. The statistical study also indicated PAM had high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of EM in this animal study. In addition, we also discussed the potential clinical application for PAM in the diagnosis of EM.