title: A 2.5-mm diameter probe for photoacoustic and ultrasonic endoscopy.
abstract: We have created a 2.5-mm outer diameter integrated photo-acoustic and ultrasonic mini-probe which can be inserted into a standard video endoscope's instrument channel. A small-diameter focused ultrasonic transducer made of PMN-PT provides adequate signal sensitivity, and enables miniaturization of the probe. Additionally, this new endoscopic probe utilizes the same scanning mirror and micromotor-based built-in actuator described in our previous reports; however, the length of the rigid distal section of the new probe has been further reduced to ~35 mm. This paper describes the technical details of the mini-probe and presents experimental results that both quantify the imaging performance and demonstrate its in vivo imaging capability, which suggests that it could work as a mini-probe for certain clinical applications.
authors.affiliation: Optical Imaging Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, Campus Box 1097, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA.
authors.forename: Joon-Mo
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ruimin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Favazza
authors.forename: Junjie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Chiye
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhilin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Qifa
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: K Kirk
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Shung
authors.forename: Lihong V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D019160:Endosonography / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008904:Miniaturization; D061088:Photoacoustic Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014159:Transducers