title: Optical clearing in photoacoustic flow cytometry.
abstract: Clinical applications of photoacoustic (PA) flow cytometry (PAFC) for detection of circulating tumor cells in deep blood vessels are hindered by laser beam scattering, that result in loss of PAFC sensitivity and resolution. We demonstrate biocompatible and rapid optical clearing (OC) of skin to minimize light scattering and thus, increase optical resolution and sensitivity of PAFC. OC effect was achieved in 20 min by sequent skin cleaning, microdermabrasion, and glycerol application enhanced by massage and sonophoresis. Using 0.8 mm mouse skin layer over a blood vessel in vitro phantom we demonstrated 1.6-fold decrease in laser spot blurring accompanied by 1.6-fold increase in PA signal amplitude from blood background. As a result, peak rate for B16F10 melanoma cells in blood flow increased 1.7-fold. By using OC we also demonstrated the feasibility of PA contrast improvement for human hand veins.
authors.affiliation: Phillips Classic Laser and Nanomedicine Laboratories, Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St., Little Rock, AR 72205 USA.
authors.forename: Yulian A
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Menyaev
authors.affiliation: Phillips Classic Laser and Nanomedicine Laboratories, Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St., Little Rock, AR 72205 USA.
authors.forename: Dmitry A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Nedosekin
authors.affiliation: Phillips Classic Laser and Nanomedicine Laboratories, Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St., Little Rock, AR 72205 USA.
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sarimollaoglu
authors.affiliation: Phillips Classic Laser and Nanomedicine Laboratories, Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St., Little Rock, AR 72205 USA.
authors.forename: Mazen A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Juratli
authors.affiliation: Phillips Classic Laser and Nanomedicine Laboratories, Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St., Little Rock, AR 72205 USA.
authors.forename: Ekaterina I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Galanzha
authors.affiliation: Saratov State University, 83 Astrakhanskaya St., Saratov, 410012 Russia ; Institute of Precise Mechanics and Control of RAS, 28 Rabochaya St., Saratov, 410028 Russia ; Optoelectronics and Measurement Techniques Laboratory, University of Oulu, P.O. BOX 4500, 90014 Finland.
authors.forename: Valery V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Tuchin
authors.affiliation: Phillips Classic Laser and Nanomedicine Laboratories, Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St., Little Rock, AR 72205 USA.
authors.forename: Vladimir P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Zharov
keywords: (110.5125) Photoacoustics; (170.3660) Light propagation in tissues; (170.6935) Tissue characterization; (330.6130) Spatial resolution