Affiliations: Institute of Laser and Optoelectronics, College of
Precision Instrument and Opto-Electronics Engineering, Tianjin University,
Tianjin 300072, P.R. China | Institute of BioScience and Technology, Cranfield
University at Silsoe, Bedfordshire MK45 4DT, UK
Note: [] Corresponding author: Ruikang K. Wang, Ph.D., Present address:
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Oregon Health Science University, 20000
NW Walker Rd, Beaverton OR97006, USA. Tel.: +1 503 748 1350; Fax: +1 503 748
7038; E-mail: r.k.wang@bme.ogi.edu
Abstract: Recent progress in photoacoustic imaging has shown its potential in
biomedical imaging of biological tissues in vivo because it can offer the
imaging contrast comparable to the optical techniques and the imaging
resolution similar to the ultrasonic techniques. However, its imaging depth and
contrast have a dependence on the optical properties of surrounding medium that
has not yet investigated. Therefore, the understanding of how the tissue
optical properties affect the performance of photoacoustic imaging would be
important. In this paper, we investigate the influence of absorption and
scattering coefficients of surrounding tissue on the measured acoustic signal
generated from the photoacoustic source of interest. In the experiments, tissue
phantoms were constructed with a range of optical properties. We used the
intralipid solution to control the scattering property, and the methylene blue
to control the absorption property of the phantom. The results show that the
absorption and scattering coefficient of surrounding medium is one of major
factors that affect the photoacoustic imaging depth and contrast.
