Enabling high-speed wide-field dynamic imaging in multifocal photoacoustic computed microscopy: a simulation study

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Medical Imaging Technology
• Microscopy

Background:

• Photoacoustic-computed microscopy (PACM) offers high-resolution, wide-field imaging of tissue optical absorption.
• A key limitation of PACM is its slow imaging speed, hindering dynamic biological studies.
• Current PACM techniques struggle with real-time visualization of fast biological processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To significantly enhance the imaging speed of photoacoustic-computed microscopy (PACM).
• To enable high-resolution, wide-field dynamic imaging of biological tissues.
• To overcome the speed limitations of existing PACM systems for advanced research.

Main Methods:

• Implemented compressed sensing with partially known support to reduce transducer element count.
• Optimized optical scanning steps for improved imaging velocity.
• Utilized high-speed, low-resolution images to guide dynamic high-resolution PACM acquisition.
• Integrated a two-step approach combining compressed sensing and low-resolution guidance.

Main Results:

• Achieved a substantial increase in PACM imaging speed.
• Successfully demonstrated high-resolution dynamic imaging capabilities over a wide field of view.
• Validated the effectiveness of the combined compressed sensing and low-resolution guidance strategy.
• Overcame the trade-off between resolution, field of view, and imaging speed in PACM.

Conclusions:

• The developed two-step approach effectively accelerates PACM imaging.
• High-resolution dynamic imaging is now feasible with PACM over a wide field.
• This advancement broadens the applicability of PACM in studying dynamic biological processes.
• The improved speed opens new avenues for real-time tissue imaging and diagnostics.