Improved in vivo photoacoustic microscopy based on a virtual-detector concept.
Recently an in vivo high-resolution backward-mode photoacoustic microscope was developed that shows potential for applications in dermatology and related cancer research. However, the limited depth of focus of the large-numerical-aperture (NA) ultrasonic lens employed in this system causes the image quality to deteriorate significantly in the out-of-focus region. To solve this problem, we devised and explored, for the first time to our knowledge, a virtual-detector-based synthetic-aperture focusing technique, combined with coherence weighting, for photoacoustic microscopy with such a large-NA transducer. Images of phantoms show that the proposed technique improves the -6 dB lateral resolution from 49-379 to 46-53 microm and increases the signal-to-noise ratio by up to 29 dB, depending on the distance from the ultrasonic focal point. In vivo experiments show that the technique also provides a clearer representation of the vascular distribution in the rat's scalp.
Optical Imaging Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, 3120 TAMU, College Station, Texas 77843-3120, USA.
Meng-Lin
ML
Li
Hao E
HE
Zhang
Konstantin
K
Maslov
George
G
Stoica
Lihong V
LV
Wang
D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D051381:Rats; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012535:Scalp / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000098:blood supply*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014159:Transducers; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D014584:User-Computer Interface