3D acoustic resolution-based photoacoustic endoscopy with dynamic focusing

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Medical Imaging
• Acoustic Resolution

Background:

• Acoustic resolution-based photoacoustic endoscopy (ARPAE) offers non-invasive imaging for gastrointestinal and urogenital tracts.
• Current ARPAE systems are limited to 2D images and suffer from image quality degradation in out-of-focus regions due to fixed-focus transducers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a modified back-projection method for ARPAE to generate 3D images with dynamic focusing.
• To overcome the limitations of current ARPAE systems, particularly image quality deterioration in out-of-focus areas.

Main Methods:

• Implemented a graphics processing unit (GPU)-based parallel computation technique for efficient processing.
• Validated the modified method using simulated, phantom, and ex-vivo experiments.

Main Results:

• The proposed method significantly improves lateral resolution and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in out-of-focus regions.
• Demonstrated an 11-fold improvement in lateral resolution and up to 37 dB SNR enhancement for targets 3 mm from the transducer focus.

Conclusions:

• The developed 3D ARPAE system provides high-quality imaging capabilities.
• Achieved superior image quality in both focused and out-of-focus regions, addressing a key limitation of previous systems.