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Updated: Nov 5, 2025

Dual Raster-Scanning Photoacoustic Small-Animal Imager for Vascular Visualization
Published on: July 15, 2020
Photoacoustic dual-scan mammoscope: results from 38 patients
Nikhila Nyayapathi1, Huijuan Zhang1, Emily Zheng1
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA.
Abstract:
We have developed a photoacoustics-based imaging system, the dual-scan mammoscope (DSM), that combines optical contrasts with acoustic detection, to obtain the angiographic features in human breast. In this study, we investigated whether the system can differentiate malignant tumor and healthy breast. We have imaged 38 patients with various tumor types and compared results of tumor-bearing breast with healthy breast for each patient. We also compared the photoacoustic and ultrasound imaging results with clinical US. Vascular features in and around the tumor mass were visualized. We found that tumor-bearing breast contained vessels of larger caliber and exhibited stronger variations in the background signals than those in the contralateral healthy breasts. Preliminary data on photoacoustic and ultrasound images also indicate that the technique has potential in differentiating different tumor types. Overall, our results indicate that combining photoacoustic and ultrasound images can improve breast cancer screening.

