title: Three-dimensional photoacoustic endoscopic imaging of the rabbit esophagus.
abstract: We report photoacoustic and ultrasonic endoscopic images of two intact rabbit esophagi. To investigate the esophageal lumen structure and microvasculature, we performed in vivo and ex vivo imaging studies using a 3.8-mm diameter photoacoustic endoscope and correlated the images with histology. Several interesting anatomic structures were newly found in both the in vivo and ex vivo images, which demonstrates the potential clinical utility of this endoscopic imaging modality. In the ex vivo imaging experiment, we acquired high-resolution motion-artifact-free three-dimensional photoacoustic images of the vasculatures distributed in the walls of the esophagi and extending to the neighboring mediastinal regions. Blood vessels with apparent diameters as small as 190 μm were resolved. Moreover, by taking advantage of the dual-mode high-resolution photoacoustic and ultrasound endoscopy, we could better identify and characterize the anatomic structures of the esophageal lumen, such as the mucosal and submucosal layers in the esophageal wall, and an esophageal branch of the thoracic aorta. In this paper, we present the first photoacoustic images showing the vasculature of a vertebrate esophagus and discuss the potential clinical applications and future development of photoacoustic endoscopy.
authors: Optical Imaging Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
authors: Joon Mo
authors: JM
authors: Yang
authors: Optical Imaging Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
authors: Christopher
authors: C
authors: Favazza
authors: Optical Imaging Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
authors: Junjie
authors: J
authors: Yao
authors: National Institutes of Health Ultrasonic Transducer Resource Center, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
authors: Ruimin
authors: R
authors: Chen
authors: National Institutes of Health Ultrasonic Transducer Resource Center, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
authors: Qifa
authors: Q
authors: Zhou
authors: National Institutes of Health Ultrasonic Transducer Resource Center, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
authors: K Kirk
authors: KK
authors: Shung
authors: Optical Imaging Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
authors: Lihong V
authors: LV
authors: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019160:Endosonography / Q000379:methods*; D004947:Esophagus / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D061088:Photoacoustic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D011817:Rabbits