Elastic property attributes to photoacoustic signals: an experimental phantom study

We report an experimental study that shows the attribution of the elastic property of light absorbing targets to the generation of ultrasound signals induced due to the photoacoustic effect. We investigated the variation in strength of the detected photoacoustic signals for various targets embedded in a background phantom with: (1) different elastic coefficients (94-346 kPa) and (2) various sizes (0.25-1.5  mm²). The results show that photoacoustic signals increase with an increase in elastic coefficient (i.e., showing to contrast in elastic property) while it is independent of variation in target sizes. Quantitative (analysis) study, and 2D and 3D reconstructed images are also presented. This study demonstrates the feasibility of imaging elastic property using photoacoustic technique.