Resonance frequency measurement to identify stiffness variations based on photoacoustic imaging

Linear assumption on the level of stiffness in a tissue shows a significant correlation with disease. Photoacoustic imaging techniques that are non-contact by design have been developed in this study to detect differences in phantom (soft tissue mimicking materials) stiffness. This study aims to detect differences in phantom stiffness based on the results of image reconstruction at the resonance frequency. Four phantom agars with differing concentrations were made to achieve different stiffnesses. The position of each phantom agar's highest photoacoustic signal amplitude is identified by a frequency modulation sweep. The characterization results show an increase in resonance frequency along with an increase in phantom stiffness. The image difference can be detected because the intensity of the photoacoustic image in samples that have a resonance frequency with laser modulation is comparatively higher than in other samples.