1. Heavy water coupling gel for short-wave infrared photoacoustic imaging.
- Author
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Salinas CM, Reichel E, Gupta A, and Witte RS
- Subjects
- Deuterium Oxide, Diagnostic Imaging, Water, Lipids, Photoacoustic Techniques methods
- Abstract
Significance: Changes in lipid, water, and collagen (LWC) content in tissue are associated with numerous medical abnormalities (cancer, atherosclerosis, and Alzheimer's disease). Standard imaging modalities are limited in resolution, specificity, and/or penetration for quantifying these changes. Short-wave infrared (SWIR) photoacoustic imaging (PAI) has the potential to overcome these challenges by exploiting the unique optical absorption properties of LWC > 1000 nm ., Aim: This study's aim is to harness SWIR PAI for mapping LWC changes in tissue. The focus lies in devising a reflection-mode PAI technique that surmounts current limitations related to SWIR light delivery., Approach: To enhance light delivery for reflection-mode SWIR PAI, we designed a deuterium oxide ( D 2 O , "heavy water") gelatin (HWG) interface for opto-acoustic coupling, intended to significantly improve light transmission above 1200 nm., Results: HWG permits light delivery > 1 mJ up to 1850 nm, which was not possible with water-based coupling ( > 1 mJ light delivery up to 1350 nm). PAI using the HWG interface and the Visualsonics Vevo LAZR-X reveals a signal increase up to 24 dB at 1720 nm in lipid-rich regions., Conclusions: By overcoming barriers related to light penetration, the HWG coupling interface enables accurate quantification/monitoring of biomarkers like LWC using reflection-mode PAI. This technological stride offers potential for tracking changes in chronic diseases ( in vivo ) and evaluating their responses to therapeutic interventions., (© 2023 The Authors.)
- Published
- 2023
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