Photoacoustic tomography using thickness-corrected Fabry-Perot sensors and parallelized camera-based signal...

We present a camera-based photoacoustic tomograph that uses planar Fabry-Perot polymer sensors with uniform optical thickness. By using a photopolymer spacer, local refractive index adjustments effectively compensate for fabrication-induced inhomogeneities, resulting in highly uniform sensors suitable for parallel, time-resolved acoustic signal acquisition. The tomograph utilizes a green-wavelength interrogation laser and a high-speed, intensified sCMOS camera. This system enables high-resolution, three-dimensional imaging of tissue phantoms in backward mode, achieving both lateral and vertical resolutions of tens of microns. While the acoustic sensitivity is currently restricted by the specifications of the sensor, laser, and camera, this method allows for rapid, wide-area, and high-resolution photoacoustic imaging without the need for mechanical and optical scanning.