Photoacoustic tomography for imaging the prostate: a transurethral illumination probe design and application

In vivo imaging of prostate cancer with photoacoustic tomography is currently limited by the lack of sufficient local fluence for deep tissue penetration and the risk of over-irradiation near the laser-tissue contact surface. We propose the design of a transurethral illumination probe that addresses those limitations. A high energy of 50 mJ/pulse is coupled into a 1000-µm-core diameter multimode fiber. A 2 cm diffusing end is fabricated, which delivers light in radial illumination. The radial illumination is then reflected and reshaped by a parabolic cylindrical mirror to obtain nearly parallel side illumination with a doubled fluence. The fiber assembly is housed in a 25 Fr cystoscope sheath to provide protection of the fiber and maintain a minimal laser-tissue contact distance of 5 mm. A large laser-tissue contact surface area of 4 cm² is obtained and the fluence on the tissue surface is kept below the maximum permissible exposure. By imaging a prostate mimicking phantom, a penetration depth of 3.5 cm at 10 mJ/cm² fluence and 700 nm wavelength is demonstrated. The results indicate that photoacoustic tomography with the proposed transurethral probe has the potential to image the entire prostate while satisfying the fluence maximum permissible exposure and delivering a high power to the tissue.