Adaptively spatial PSF removal enables contrast enhancement for multi-layer image fusion in photoacoustic microscopy.

Optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy enables cellular-level biological imaging in deep tissues. However, acquiring high-quality spatial images without knowing the point spread function (PSF) at multiple depths or physically improving system performance is challenging. We propose an adaptive multi-layer photoacoustic image fusion (AMPIF) approach based on blind deconvolution and registration. Our findings indicate that the AMPIF method rapidly achieves optimized multi-layer focused fused images with superior resolution and contrast without relying on prior knowledge of the PSF. This method holds significant potential for fast imaging of living biological tissues with enhanced contrast at multiple imaging depths.