With the capability of assessing high resolution optical information in soft tissues at imaging depth up to several centimeters, innovative biomedical photoacoustic imaging (PAI) offers benefits to diagnosis and treatment monitoring of inflammatory arthritis, particularly in combination with more established ultrasonography (US). In this work, a PAI and US dual-modality system facilitating both imaging functions in a real-time fashion was developed and initially tested for its clinical performance on patients with active inflammatory arthritis. Photoacoustic (PA) images of metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints were acquired at 580-nm wavelength that provides a desired balance between optical absorption of blood and attenuation in background tissue. The results from six patients and six normal volunteers used as a control demonstrated the satisfactory sensitivity of PAI in assessing the physiological changes in the joints, specifically enhanced blood flow as a result of active synovitis. This preliminary study suggests that PAI, by revealing vascular features suggestive of joint inflammation, could be a valuable supplement to musculoskeletal US for rheumatology clinic.

Date Published: 11 March 2015
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 9323, Photons Plus Ultrasound: Imaging and Sensing 2015, 93230B (11 March 2015);

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9323:
Photons Plus Ultrasound: Imaging and Sensing 2015
Alexander A. Oraevsky; Lihong V. Wang, Editor(s)