Hybrid multi-wavelength photoacoustic imaging

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Medical Imaging Technology

Background:

• Multi-wavelength photoacoustic (PA) imaging utilizes spectroscopic absorption contrast in biological tissues.
• Conventional PA imaging requires expensive, bulky wavelength-tunable pulsed laser sources for strong signal generation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a cost-effective hybrid multi-wavelength photoacoustic imaging (hPAI) method.
• To enable optical absorption property determination using a combination of pulsed and continuous-wave (CW) lasers.

Main Methods:

• The hybrid method combines single-wavelength pulsed and multi-wavelength CW laser sources.
• A specific pulse-CW-pulse illumination sequence is employed.
• PA signals are analyzed by extracting differences before and after CW laser heating.

Main Results:

• The hPAI method achieves optical absorption property measurement of CW lasers.
• The system demonstrates significantly lower cost compared to conventional PA imaging.
• Proof-of-concept experimental results validate the theoretical analysis and analytical model.

Conclusions:

• The proposed hPAI method offers a more affordable approach to multi-wavelength photoacoustic imaging.
• This technique facilitates the exploration of spectroscopic absorption contrast in biological tissues.
• The hybrid approach paves the way for wider adoption of PA imaging in research and clinical settings.