High-resolution ultrasound-aided biophotonic imaging

Optical contrast is sensitive to functional parameters, including the oxygen saturation and total concentration of hemoglobin, in biological tissues. However, due to the overwhelming scattering encountered by light in tissues, traditional optical modalities cannot provide satisfactory spatial resolution beyond the ballistic (a few hundred microns) and quasi-ballistic (1-2 mm) regimes. Photoacoustic tomography is based on the high optical contrast yet utilizing the high ultrasonic resolution. Our work in this emerging area of research will be summarized in this invited talk. In this technology, a diffraction-based inverse-source problem is solved in the image reconstruction, for which we developed the rigorous reconstruction theory. We implemented a prototype and accomplished noninvasive transdermal and transcranial functional imaging of small-animal brains in vivo. Change in the cerebral blood oxygenation of a rat, as a result of the alternation from hyperoxia to hypoxia, was imaged successfully.