title: Photoacoustic imaging of fluorophores using pump-probe excitation.
abstract: A pump-probe technique for the detection of fluorophores in tomographic PA images is introduced. It is based on inducing stimulated emission in fluorescent molecules, which in turn modulates the amount of thermalized energy, and hence the PA signal amplitude. A theoretical model of the PA signal generation in fluorophores is presented and experimentally validated on cuvette measurements made in solutions of Rhodamine 6G, a fluorophore of known optical and molecular properties. The application of this technique to deep tissue tomographic PA imaging is demonstrated by determining the spatial distribution of a near-infrared fluorophore in a tissue phantom.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Optik und Atomare Physik, Technische Universität Berlin, Strasse des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Märk
authors.affiliation: Institut für Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin, Strasse des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Franz-Josef
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Schmitt
authors.affiliation: Institut für Optik und Atomare Physik, Technische Universität Berlin, Strasse des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Theiss
authors.affiliation: Institut für Optik und Atomare Physik, Technische Universität Berlin, Strasse des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dortay
authors.affiliation: Institut für Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin, Strasse des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Friedrich
authors.affiliation: Institut für Optik und Atomare Physik, Technische Universität Berlin, Strasse des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany ; Institut für Radiologie, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Laufer
keywords: (170.5120) Photoacoustic imaging; (300.2530) Fluorescence, laser-induced