title: Photothermal tomography for the functional and structural evaluation, and early mineral loss monitoring in bones.
abstract: Salient features of a new non-ionizing bone diagnostics technique, truncated-correlation photothermal coherence tomography (TC-PCT), exhibiting optical-grade contrast and capable of resolving the trabecular network in three dimensions through the cortical region with and without a soft-tissue overlayer are presented. The absolute nature and early demineralization-detection capability of a marker called thermal wave occupation index, estimated using the proposed modality, have been established. Selective imaging of regions of a specific mineral density range has been demonstrated in a mouse femur. The method is maximum-permissible-exposure compatible. In a matrix of bone and soft-tissue a depth range of ~3.8 mm has been achieved, which can be increased through instrumental and modulation waveform optimization. Furthermore, photoacoustic microscopy, a comparable modality with TC-PCT, has been used to resolve the trabecular structure and for comparison with the photothermal tomography.
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Diffusion-Wave Technologies (CADIFT), Dept. of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G8, Canada.
authors.forename: Sreekumar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaiplavil
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Diffusion-Wave Technologies (CADIFT), Dept. of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G8, Canada.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mandelis
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5667, USA.
authors.forename: Xueding
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5667, USA.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Feng
keywords: (110.6960) Tomography; (170.0170) Medical optics and biotechnology; (170.6935) Tissue characterization; (350.5340) Photothermal effects