title: Dry coupling for whole-body small-animal photoacoustic computed tomography.
abstract: We have enhanced photoacoustic computed tomography with dry acoustic coupling that eliminates water immersion anxiety and wrinkling of the animal and facilitates incorporating complementary modalities and procedures. The dry acoustic coupler is made of a tubular elastic membrane enclosed by a closed transparent water tank. The tubular membrane ensures water-free contact with the animal, and the closed water tank allows pressurization for animal stabilization. The dry coupler was tested using a whole-body small-animal ring-shaped photoacoustic computed tomography system. Dry coupling was found to provide image quality comparable to that of conventional water coupling.
authors.affiliation: Washington University, Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
authors.forename: Chenghung
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.affiliation: Washington University, Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Washington University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
authors.forename: Liren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: University at Buffalo, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Buffalo, New York, United States.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Washington University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
authors.forename: Chiye
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Washington University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
authors.forename: Wanyi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Washington University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garcia-Uribe
authors.affiliation: Washington University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
authors.forename: Konstantin I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Maslov
authors.affiliation: Washington University, Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, St. Louis, Missouri, United StatesbWashington University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
authors.forename: Lihong V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D061088:Photoacoustic Techniques; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*