Silicon-photonics acoustic detector for optoacoustic micro-tomography

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Imaging
• Photonics

Background:

• Current medical ultrasound and optoacoustic (photoacoustic) imaging use beam-forming and tomography, limited by piezoelectric transducer miniaturization for resolutions beyond 100 µm.
• High-resolution imaging often relies on microscopy, but bulky apparatus and long acquisition times hinder clinical use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a miniaturized acoustic detector for high-resolution tomographic imaging.
• To overcome the resolution and practicality limitations of existing medical acoustic imaging techniques.

Main Methods:

• Developed a miniaturized acoustic detector using an optical resonator on a silicon-photonics platform.
• Coated the resonator with a sensitivity-enhancing elastomer to improve acoustic signal detection and eliminate surface acoustic wave interference.
• Achieved imaging with spread functions below 20 µm.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated a novel acoustic detector capable of tomographic imaging with sub-20 µm resolution.
• Successfully applied the detector in vivo for high-resolution optoacoustic tomography.
• The device overcomes the miniaturization efficiency issues of piezoelectric transducers.

Conclusions:

• The miniaturized optical resonator-based acoustic detector enables unprecedented resolution in optoacoustic tomography.
• This technology offers a promising alternative for high-resolution, clinically applicable medical imaging.
• The approach addresses key limitations in current ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging systems.