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In this paper, an underwater ranging system based on photoacoustic effect occurring on target surface is proposed. In this proposal, laser pulse generated by blue-green laser is directly incident on target surface, where the photoacoustic effect occurs and a sound source is formed. And then the sound wave which is also called photoacoustic signal is received by the ultrasonic receiver after passing through water. According to the time delay between transmitting laser and receiving photoacoustic signal, and sound velocity in water, the distance between the target and the ultrasonic receiver can be calculated. Differing from underwater range finding by only laser, this approach can avoid backscattering of laser beam, so easier to implement. Experimental system according to this principle has been constructed to verify the feasibility of this technology. The experimental results showed that a ranging accuracy of 1 mm can be effectively achieved when the target is close to the ultrasonic receiver.

The short focal depth of a Gaussian beam limits the volumetric imaging speed of optical resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM). A Bessel beam, which is diffraction-free, provides a long focal depth, but its side-lobes may deteriorate image quality when the Bessel beam is directly employed to excite photoacoustic signals in ORPAM. Here, we present a nonlinear approach based on the Grueneisen relaxation effect to suppress the side-lobe artifacts in photoacoustic imaging. This method extends the focal depth of OR-PAM and speeds up volumetric imaging. We experimentally demonstrated a 1-mm focal depth with a 7-μm lateral resolution and volumetrically imaged a carbon fiber and red blood cell samples.

Melanoma, one of the most common types of skin cancer, has a high mortality rate, mainly due to a high propensity for tumor metastasis. The presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is a potential predictor for metastasis. Label-free imaging of single circulating melanoma cells in vivo provides rich information on tumor progress. Here we present photoacoustic microscopy of single melanoma cells in living animals. We used a fast-scanning optical-resolution photoacoustic microscope to image the microvasculature in mouse ears. The imaging system has sub-cellular spatial resolution and works in reflection mode. A fast-scanning mirror allows the system to acquire fast volumetric images over a large field of view. A 500-kHz pulsed laser was used to image blood and CTCs. Single circulating melanoma cells were imaged in both capillaries and trunk vessels in living animals. These high-resolution images may be used in early detection of CTCs with potentially high sensitivity. In addition, this technique enables in vivo study of tumor cell extravasation from a primary tumor, which addresses an urgent pre-clinical need.

Linear transducer arrays are readily available for ultrasonic detection in photoacoustic computed tomography. They offer low cost, hand-held convenience, and conventional ultrasonic imaging. However, the elevational resolution of linear transducer arrays, which is usually determined by the weak focus of the cylindrical acoustic lens, is about one order of magnitude worse than the in-plane axial and lateral spatial resolutions. Therefore, conventional linear scanning along the elevational direction cannot provide high-quality three-dimensional photoacoustic images due to the anisotropic spatial resolutions. Here we propose an innovative method to achieve isotropic resolutions for three-dimensional photoacoustic images through combined linear and rotational scanning. In each scan step, we first elevationally scan the linear transducer array, and then rotate the linear transducer array along its center in small steps, and scan again until 180 degrees have been covered. To reconstruct isotropic three-dimensional images from the multiple-directional scanning dataset, we use the standard inverse Radon transform originating from X-ray CT. We acquired a three-dimensional microsphere phantom image through the inverse Radon transform method and compared it with a single-elevational-scan three-dimensional image. The comparison shows that our method improves the elevational resolution by up to one order of magnitude, approaching the in-plane lateral-direction resolution. In vivo rat images were also acquired.

The scanning mechanism is a major technical focus in optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy. Flexible scanning access with fast scanning speed is desired to monitor biological and physiological dynamics with high temporal resolution. We developed random-access optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (RA-OR-PAM) using a digital micromirror device (DMD). Each micromirror on the DMD can be independently controlled, allowing imaging of regions of interest with arbitrary user-selected shapes without extraneous information. A global structural image is first acquired, and the regions of interest are selected. The laser beam then scans these regions exclusively, resulting in a faster frame rate than in a conventional raster scan. This system can rapidly scan arbitrarily shaped regions of interest with a lateral resolution of 3.6 μm within a 40×40 μm 2 imaging area, a size comparable to the focal spot size of a 50 MHz ultrasound transducer. We demonstrated the random-access ability of RA-OR-PAM by imaging a monolayer of red blood cells. This system was then used to monitor blood flow in vivo within user-selected capillaries in a mouse ear. By imaging only the capillary of interest, the frame rate was increased by up to 13.3 times.

Controllable light delivery to the region of interest is essential to biomedical optical imaging methods like photoacoustic microscopy. It is, however, challenging beyond superficial depths in biological tissue (~1 mm beneath human skin) due to the strong scattering of light that scrambles the photon propagation paths. Recently, optical wavefront shaping has been proposed to modulate the incident light wavefront to compensate for the scattering-induced phase distortions, and consequentially, convey light optimally to a desired location behind or inside turbid media. To reach an optimum wavefront, a searching algorithm is usually required to optimize a feedback signal. In this work, we present our latest explorations, which use photoacoustic signals as the feedback to remotely and non-invasively guide the wavefront shaping process. Our method does not require direct optical access to the target region or the invasive embedding of fluorescence probes inside turbid media. Experimentally, we have demonstrated that diffuse light can be converged to the ultrasound focus by maximizing the amplitude of photoacoustic emissions from the intended absorbing site. Moreover, we show that wavefront-shaped light focusing can enhance existing optical imaging modalities like photoacoustic microscopy, in regard to signal-to-noise ratio, imaging depth, and potentially, resolution.

We report the development of photoacoustic microscopy capable of video-rate high-resolution in-vivo imaging in deep tissue. A lightweight photoacoustic probe is made of a single-element broadband ultrasound transducer, a compact photoacoustic beam combiner, and a bright-field light delivery system. Focused broadband ultrasound detection provides a 44-μm lateral resolution and a 28-μm axial resolution. A multimode optical fiber is used to deliver laser pulses. The bright-field light delivery system can effectively improve the illumination efficiency. The photoacoustic probe weighs less than 40 grams and is mounted on a voice-coil scanner to acquire 40 cross-sectional images per second over several-mm range. The fast speed can effectively improve imaging throughput, reduce motion artifacts, and enable the visualization of highly dynamic biomedical processes. High-resolution micro-vascular imaging is successfully demonstrated.

Massive small bowel resection (SBR) results in villus angiogenesis and intestinal adaptation. The exact mechanism that causes intestinal villus angiogenesis remains unknown. We hypothesize that hemodynamic changes within the remnant bowel after SBR will trigger intestinal angiogenesis. To validate this, we used photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) to image the microvascular system of the intestine in C57B6 mice and to measure blood flow and oxygen saturation (sO_2) of a supplying artery and vein. Baseline measurements were made 6 cm proximal to the ileal-cecal junction (ICJ) prior to resection. A 50% proximal bowel resection was then performed, and measurements were again recorded at the same location immediately, 1, 3 and 7 days following resection. The results show that arterial and venous sO_2 were similar prior to SBR. Immediately following SBR, the arterial and venous sO_2 decreased by 14.3 ± 2.7% and 32.7 ± 6.6%, respectively, while the arterial and venous flow speed decreased by 62.9 ± 17.3% and 60.0 ± 20.1%, respectively. Such significant decreases in sO_2 and blood flow indicate a hypoxic state after SBR. Within one week after SBR, both sO2 and blood flow speed had gradually recovered. By 7 days after SBR, arterial and venous sO_2 had increased to 101.0 ± 2.9% and 82.7 ± 7.3% of the baseline values, respectively, while arterial and venous flow speed had increased to 106.0 ± 21.4% and 150.0 ± 29.6% of the baseline values, respectively. Such increases in sO_2 and blood flow may result from angiogenesis following SBR.

Photoacoustic tomography detecting ultrasound signals generated from photon absorption provides optical absorption contrast in vivo for structural, functional and molecular imaging. Although photoacoustic tomography technology has grown fast in recent years, real-time photoacoustic imaging with cellular spatial resolution are still strongly demanded. We developed a photoacoustic microscopy which has video-rate imaging capability with cellular spatial resolution. The system consists of a single-element focused ultrasound transducer, a fiber-based light-delivery subsystem, a voice-coil translation stage, a motion controller, and a data acquisition subsystem. A compact cube is employed to split optical and acoustic beams. The mass of the entire scanning photoacoustic probe is less than 40 grams, which minimizes potential vibrations and inertial effects, therefore, makes it capable to scan fast. The imaging system is capable of acquiring 20 cross-sectional (B-scan) images per second over 9 mm, and up to 40 B-scan images per second over 1 mm. Focused laser beams provide a lateral resolution of five microns. Confocal deployment of optical and acoustic focuses provides higher SNR than optical scanning approach. Micron-sized carbon particles flowing in silicone tubing and in vivo blood flows were imaged in video-rate, which demonstrated the capability to image highly dynamic biological processes in vivo with cellular resolution. This real-time high-resolution photoacoustic imaging system provides a promising approach for various in vivo imaging and quantitative studies.

We present a novel approach to construct three-dimensional rotary micro-mirrors, which are fundamental components to build 1×N or N×M optical switching systems. A rotary micro-mirror consists of two microparts: a rotary micro-motor and a micro-mirror. Both of the two microparts are fabricated with PolyMUMPs, a surface micromachining process. A sequential robotic microassembly process is developed to join the two microparts together to construct a threedimensional device. In order to achieve high positioning accuracy and a strong mechanical connection, the micro-mirror is joined to the micro-motor using an adhesive mechanical fastener. The mechanical fastener has self-alignment ability and provides a temporary joint between the two microparts. The adhesive bonding can create a strong permanent connection, which does not require extra supporting plates for the micro-mirror. A hybrid manipulation strategy, which includes pick-and-place and pushing-based manipulations, is utilized to manipulation the micro-mirror. The pick-andplace manipulation has the ability to globally position the micro-mirror in six degrees of freedom. The pushing-based manipulation can achieve high positioning accuracy. This microassembly approach has great flexibility and high accuracy; furthermore, it does not require extra supporting plates, which greatly simplifies the assembly process.