We report experimental investigations of photoacoustic guidance of diffusive optical tomography for detection and characterization of optical contrast targets. The hybrid system combined an 8-source, 10-detector frequency domain DOT with a clinical reflection geometry probe. For the photoacoustic tomography (PAT) functionality, a high-energy 1×7 optical fiber delivery system illuminated a 2 cm central region for localization of absorptive targets. Two-dimensional PAT images along one central axis of the probe defined of regions of interest for a dual-zone mesh DOT imaging algorithm. PVC Plastisol phantom absorbers, 1 cm on a side, with absorption coefficients ranging from 0.075 to 0.23 cm^-1 were imaged at depths up to 2.5 cm. Pairs of absorbers simulating a multi-lobed heterogeneous tumor were also investigated. Without PAT guidance, the absorber location was not clear and lower contrast targets in the twoabsorber configurations were not distinguishable. With PAT guidance, the two targets were well resolved and the reconstructed absorption coefficients improved to within 15% of the true values.

Date Published: 24 February 2009
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 7177, Photons Plus Ultrasound: Imaging and Sensing 2009, 717707 (24 February 2009); doi: 10.1117/12.813547

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7177:
Photons Plus Ultrasound: Imaging and Sensing 2009
Alexander A. Oraevsky; Lihong V. Wang, Editor(s)