Photoacoustic Imaging and Characterization of the Microvasculature

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Photoacoustic Imaging and Characterization of the Microvasculature Journal of Biomedical Optics 15͑1͒, 011101 ͑January/February 2010͒ Photoacoustic imaging and characterization of the microvasculature Song Hu Abstract. Photoacoustic ͑optoacoustic͒ tomography, combining opti- Lihong V. Wang cal absorption contrast and highly scalable spatial resolution ͑from Washington University in St. Louis micrometer optical resolution to millimeter acoustic resolution͒, has Department of Biomedical Engineering broken through the fundamental penetration limit of optical ballistic Optical Imaging Laboratory One Brookings Drive imaging modalities—including confocal microscopy, two-photon mi- St. Louis, Missouri 63130-4899 croscopy, and optical coherence tomography—and has achieved high spatial resolution at depths down to the diffusive regime. Optical ab- sorption contrast is highly desirable for microvascular imaging and characterization because of the presence of endogenous strongly light-absorbing hemoglobin. We focus on the current state of mi- crovascular imaging and characterization based on photoacoustics. We first review the three major embodiments of photoacoustic tomog- raphy: microscopy, computed tomography, and endoscopy. We then discuss the methods used to characterize important functional param- eters, such as total hemoglobin concentration, hemoglobin oxygen saturation, and blood flow. Next, we highlight a few representative applications in microvascular-related physiological and pathophysi- ological research, including hemodynamic monitoring, chronic imag- ing, tumor-vascular interaction, and neurovascular coupling. Finally, several potential technical advances toward clinical applications are suggested, and a few technical challenges in contrast enhancement and fluence compensation are summarized. © 2010 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. ͓DOI: 10.1117/1.3281673͔ Keywords: photoacoustic microscopy; photoacoustic computed tomography; pho- toacoustic endoscopy; microvascular morphology; total hemoglobin concentration; hemoglobin oxygen saturation; blood flow; microhemodynamics; chronic imaging; angiogenesis; neurovascular coupling. Paper 09202VSSR received May 19, 2009; revised manuscript received Sep. 15, 2009; accepted for publication Sep. 21, 2009; published online Jan. 21, 2010. 1 Introduction techniques often lack either sufficient spatial resolution or sat- isfactory contrast ͑or both͒ to be effective for microvascular The main function of the cardiovascular system is to provide, imaging.8 To bridge this gap, optical microscopy has been through perfused vascular beds, the necessities for living tis- widely used to dissect the delicate features of the microvas- sues and organs. The distributing arterial trees transport oxy- culature. Intravital microscopy ͑IVM͒, the gold standard for gen, humoral agents, and nutrients to the vital parts of the microcirculation studies, enables quantification of vessel body; in the mean time, the venous trees collect metabolic count, diameter, length, density, permeability, and blood flow 1 wastes. Microcirculation, the distal functional unit of the car- velocity.9 Nevertheless, to observe capillaries in vivo, IVM diovascular system, provides exchange sites for gases, nutri- generally requires transillumination and surgical preparation, ents, metabolic wastes, and thermal energy between the blood which disturb the intrinsic microvasculature and are restricted and the tissues. Pathologic microcirculation reflects the break- to limited anatomical sites. Moreover, conventional IVM down of homeostasis in organisms, which ultimately leads to lacks the depth resolution that is crucial for characterizing tissue inviability. Thus, in vivo microvascular imaging and three-dimensional ͑3-D͒ microvascular morphology. Confocal characterization is of significant physiological, pathophysi- microscopy and two-photon microscopy ͑TPM͒ avoid such ological, and clinical importance. invasive preparation and enable volumetric visualization of Well-established clinical imaging modalities such as mag- the microvasculature.10,11 However, their imaging contrasts ͑ ͒ ͑ ͒ netic resonance imaging MRI , computed tomography CT , come primarily from exogenous fluorescent agents, which— ͑ ͒ positron emission tomography PET , and ultrasound imaging though having been very successful in laboratory research— have been adopted for vascular imaging.2–7 However, these are still facing challenges in clinical translations.12 Orthogonal polarization spectral ͑OPS͒ imaging enables intrinsic mi- Address correspondence to: Lihong V. Wang, Washington University in St. crovascular imaging;13 however, it provides only a two- Louis, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Optical Imaging Laboratory, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63130-4899. Tel: 314-935-6152; Fax: 314- 935-7448; E-mail: [email protected] 1083-3668/2010/15͑1͒/011101/15/$25.00 © 2010 SPIE Journal of Biomedical Optics 011101-1 January/February 2010 b Vol. 15͑1͒ Downloaded From: http://biomedicaloptics.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 07/01/2016 Terms of Use: http://spiedigitallibrary.org/ss/TermsOfUse.aspx Hu and Wang: Photoacoustic imaging and characterization of the microvasculature Table 1 Comparison between PAT and well-established in vivo microvascular microscopy and clinical angiography. Blood Contrast Invasive or Modality Depth ͑mm͒ Resolution ͑␮m͒ Three Dimensional Oxygenation HbT Imaging Contrast Source Radiative IVM 0.2–0.5 1–2 Optical scattering, Exogenousa ͱ fluorescence CM 0.2–0.5 1–2 ͱ Optical scattering, Exogenousa fluorescence TPM 0.5–1 1–2 ͱ Fluorescence Exogenous OPS 0.5–1 1–5 ͱ Optical Endogenous absorptionb D-OCT 1–2 1–20 ͱ Flow Endogenous PAT 0.7–50c 5–800c ͱͱͱOptical absorption Endogenous MRI 100–200 1000 ͱͱNuclear magnetic Endogenous resonance x-ray CT 200 100 ͱ x-ray absorption Exogenous ͱ PET 200 1000 ͱͱ Positron Exogenous ͱ annihilation US 100–200 500–1000 ͱ Ultrasonic Endogenous scattering, flow CM, confocal microscopy; US, ultrasound imaging. aAlthough IVM and CM can trace endogenous optical scattering contrast, fluorescent labeling is required for capillary imaging. bDifferent from PAT, OPS provides negative absorption contrast. cScalable. dimensional ͑2-D͒ visualization of the microvasculature and coustics was investigated by the biomedical imaging commu- lacks the measurement consistency required for chronic nity for tomographic imaging. In PAT, the target is irradiated studies.14 Doppler optical coherence tomography ͑D-OCT͒ by a short-pulsed or intensity-modulated continuous-wave demonstrates the intrinsic imaging of microvascular perfusion ͑cw͒ laser beam, and ultrasonic waves ͑referred to as photoa- 15 by extracting blood flow information, but its resolution and coustic waves͒ are induced as a result of the transient ther- sensitivity are not yet sufficient to image single capillaries. moelastic expansion.21,22 By detecting the excited photoacous- More importantly, among the mainstream techniques already tic signals, PAT can reveal the physiologically specific mentioned, only OPS imaging can assess the functional pa- absorption signatures of endogenous chromophores, such as ͑ ͒ rameter of total hemoglobin concentration HbT , and none of hemoglobin and melanin in vivo. More importantly, with them have direct access to hemoglobin oxygen saturation ͑ ͒ spectroscopic measurements, PAT can quantify hemoglobin sO2 —another important functional parameter. To measure oxygenation within single vessels, providing important meta- sO in vivo, the following strategies have been adopted. First, 2 bolic information about the microcirculation. A comprehen- Raman spectroscopy has been integrated into IVM; however, sive comparison of PAT with the well-established in vivo mi- the resonance Raman signals generated in tissue compart- crovascular microscopy and clinical angiography can be ments other than blood could interfere with the analysis of hemoglobin.16 Second, hyperspectral imaging has been inte- found in Table 1. ͑ ͒ The advantages of PAT are summarized as follows. First, grated into optical coherence tomography OCT ; neverthe- 23–25 less, it requires transillumination and provides only 2-D endogenous optical absorption contrast enables label-free mapping.17 Finally, TPM has recently made exciting progress imaging of the microvasculature with a high SNR. Second, in 18,19 vivo vascular imaging of small animal models can cover the in terms of label-free imaging. With TPM, microvascular 25 morphology and oxygenation have been imaged in vivo with- length scale from a superficial capillary to an abdominal aorta,26 demonstrating the potential of PAT to bridge the res- out fluorescence labeling; however, sO2 quantification is not yet available due to the limited signal-to-noise ratio19 ͑SNR͒. olution and penetration gaps between microvascular micros- In contrast, photoacoustic tomography ͑PAT͒ can over- copy and clinical angiography. Third, spectroscopic measure- come these limitations. Photoacoustics, a physical phenom- ment enables vessel-by-vessel mapping of blood enon first reported for wireless communication,20 describes oxygenation.27,28 Fourth, time-resolved ultrasonic detection the generation of acoustic waves from an object absorbing avoids depth scanning. Finally, working in reflection or or- pulsed or intensity-modulated optical irradiation. With techni- thogonal mode noninvasively makes this technique applicable cal advances in laser sources and ultrasonic detectors, photoa- to more anatomical sites in vivo. Journal of Biomedical Optics 011101-2 January/February 2010 b Vol. 15͑1͒ Downloaded From: http://biomedicaloptics.spiedigitallibrary.org/
Recommended publications
  • Multi-Wavelength Photoacoustic Imaging of Inducible Tyrosinase Reporter Gene Expression 12
    OPEN Multi-wavelength photoacoustic imaging SUBJECT AREAS: of inducible tyrosinase reporter gene IMAGING GENETIC ENGINEERING expression in xenograft tumors Robert J. Paproski1, Andrew Heinmiller2, Keith Wachowicz3 & Roger J. Zemp1 Received 5 March 2014 1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2V4, Canada, 2FUJIFILM Accepted VisualSonics, Inc., Toronto, Ontario M4N 3N1, Canada, 3Department of Oncology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2 June 2014 1Z2, Canada. Published 17 June 2014 Photoacoustic imaging is an emerging hybrid imaging technology capable of breaking through resolution limits of pure optical imaging technologies imposed by optical-scattering to provide fine-resolution optical contrast information in deep tissues. We demonstrate the ability of multi-wavelength photoacoustic imaging to estimate relative gene expression distributions using an inducible expression system and Correspondence and co-register images with hemoglobin oxygen saturation estimates and micro-ultrasound data. Tyrosinase, requests for materials the rate-limiting enzyme in melanin production, is used as a reporter gene owing to its strong optical should be addressed to absorption and enzymatic amplification mechanism. Tetracycline-inducible melanin expression is turned R.J.Z. (rzemp@ on via doxycycline treatment in vivo. Serial multi-wavelength imaging reveals very low estimated melanin ualberta.ca) expression in tumors prior to doxycycline treatment or in tumors with no tyrosinase gene present, but strong signals after melanin induction in tumors tagged with the tyrosinase reporter. The combination of new inducible reporters and high-resolution photoacoustic and micro-ultrasound technology is poised to bring a new dimension to the study of gene expression in vivo. eporter genes can help elucidate gene expression signatures in vivo1.
    [Show full text]
  • Signal and Image Processing in Biomedical Photoacoustic Imaging: a Review
    Review Signal and Image Processing in Biomedical Photoacoustic Imaging: A Review Rayyan Manwar 1,*,†, Mohsin Zafar 2,† and Qiuyun Xu 2 1 Richard and Loan Hill Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA 2 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48201, USA; [email protected] (M.Z.); [email protected] (Q.X.) * Correspondence: [email protected] † These authors have equal contributions. Abstract: Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is a powerful imaging modality that relies on the PA effect. PAI works on the principle of electromagnetic energy absorption by the exogenous contrast agents and/or endogenous molecules present in the biological tissue, consequently generating ultrasound waves. PAI combines a high optical contrast with a high acoustic spatiotemporal resolution, al- lowing the non-invasive visualization of absorbers in deep structures. However, due to the optical diffusion and ultrasound attenuation in heterogeneous turbid biological tissue, the quality of the PA images deteriorates. Therefore, signal and image-processing techniques are imperative in PAI to provide high-quality images with detailed structural and functional information in deep tissues. Here, we review various signal and image processing techniques that have been developed/implemented in PAI. Our goal is to highlight the importance of image computing in photoacoustic imaging. Keywords: photoacoustic; signal enhancement; image processing; SNR; deep learning 1. Introduction Citation: Manwar, R.; Zafar, M.; Xu, Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is a non-ionizing and non-invasive hybrid imaging Q. Signal and Image Processing in modality that has made significant progress in recent years, up to a point where clinical Biomedical Photoacoustic Imaging: studies are becoming a real possibility [1–6].
    [Show full text]
  • Advanced Biological Imaging for Intracellular Micromanipulation: Methods and Applications
    applied sciences Review Advanced Biological Imaging for Intracellular Micromanipulation: Methods and Applications Wendi Gao 1,2, Libo Zhao 1, Zhuangde Jiang 1 and Dong Sun 2,* 1 State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering and the International Joint Laboratory for Micro/Nano Manufacturing and Measurement Technologies, School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China; [email protected] (W.G.); [email protected] (L.Z.); [email protected] (Z.J.) 2 Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +(852)-3442-8405 Received: 23 July 2020; Accepted: 5 October 2020; Published: 19 October 2020 Abstract: Intracellular micromanipulation assisted by robotic systems has valuable applications in biomedical research, such as genetic diagnosis and genome-editing tasks. However, current studies suffer from a low success rate and a large operation damage because of insufficient information on the operation information of targeted specimens. The complexity of the intracellular environment causes difficulties in visualizing manipulation tools and specimens. This review summarizes and analyzes the current development of advanced biological imaging sampling and computational processing methods in intracellular micromanipulation applications. It also discusses the related limitations and future extension, providing an important reference about this field. Keywords: biological imaging; computational imaging; intracellular micromanipulation 1. Introduction Intracellular organelles and molecules governing the liveness [1,2], dynamics [3,4], organizations [5,6], and functionalization [7,8] at cellular, multicellular, and tissue levels have attracted considerable interests from the field of biomedical research. Intracellular manipulation, measurement, and other surgical operations were conducted to unveil underlying mysteries inside cells [9].
    [Show full text]
  • Overview of Ultrasound Detection Technologies for Photoacoustic Imaging
    micromachines Review Overview of Ultrasound Detection Technologies for Photoacoustic Imaging Rayyan Manwar 1,2 , Karl Kratkiewicz 2 and Kamran Avanaki 1,2,3,* 1 Richard and Loan Hill Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA; [email protected] 2 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48201, USA; [email protected] 3 Department of Dermatology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +1-313-577-0703 Received: 12 June 2020; Accepted: 14 July 2020; Published: 17 July 2020 Abstract: Ultrasound detection is one of the major components of photoacoustic imaging systems. Advancement in ultrasound transducer technology has a significant impact on the translation of photoacoustic imaging to the clinic. Here, we present an overview on various ultrasound transducer technologies including conventional piezoelectric and micromachined transducers, as well as optical ultrasound detection technology. We explain the core components of each technology, their working principle, and describe their manufacturing process. We then quantitatively compare their performance when they are used in the receive mode of a photoacoustic imaging system. Keywords: ultrasound transducer; photoacoustic imaging; piezoelectric; micromachined; CMUT; PMUT; optical ultrasound detection 1. Introduction Ultrasound transducers are devices that convert ultrasound pressure waves into electrical signal. In an ultrasound imaging machine the transducer is a transceiver device: the waves propagated from an ultrasound transducer are backscattered/reflected from an impedance mismatch in the tissue and received by the same transducer; the strength of the received pressure waves is in the range of 0.1~4 MPa [1].
    [Show full text]
  • Micro‑Doppler Photoacoustic Effect and Sensing by Ultrasound Radar
    This document is downloaded from DR‑NTU (https://dr.ntu.edu.sg) Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Micro‑Doppler Photoacoustic Effect and Sensing by Ultrasound Radar Gao, Fei; Feng, Xiaohua; Zheng, Yuanjin 2015 Gao, F., Feng, X., & Zheng, Y. (2016). Micro‑Doppler Photoacoustic Effect and Sensing by Ultrasound Radar. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, 22(3), 6801806‑. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/80688 https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTQE.2015.2504512 © 2015 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works. The published version is available at: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/JSTQE.2015.2504512]. Downloaded on 02 Oct 2021 11:33:16 SGT 1 Micro-Doppler Photoacoustic Effect and Sensing by Ultrasound Radar Fei Gao, Member, IEEE, Xiaohua Feng, and Yuanjin Zheng*, Member, IEEE Ultrasound Pulsed laser Abstract—In recent years, photoacoustics has been studied for transmitter both anatomical and functional biomedical imaging. However, the VtPA physical interaction between photoacoustic generated endogenous R waves and an exogenously applied ultrasound wave is a largely KUS Ultrasound f0 unexplored area. Here, we report the initial results about the receiver interaction of photoacoustic and external ultrasound waves leading to a micro-Doppler photoacoustic (mDPA) effect, which is Thermoelastic experimentally observed and consistently modelled. It is based on vibration Light absorber a simultaneous excitation on the target with a pulsed laser and (a) (b) continuous wave (CW) ultrasound.
    [Show full text]
  • Review of Cost Reduction Methods in Photoacoustic Computed
    Review of Cost Reduction Methods in Photoacoustic Computed Tomography Afreen Fatima1,2¥, Karl Kratkiewicz1¥, Rayyan Manwar1¥, Mohsin Zafar1, Ruiying Zhang3, Bin Huang4, Neda Dadashzadesh5, Jun Xia6 and Mohammad Avanaki1,7,8* 1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA 2Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA 3Edan Medical, USA, Sunnyvale, USA 43339 Northwest Ave, Bellingham, WA, USA 5R&D Fiber-Laser department, Coherent Inc., East Granby, CT, USA 6Department of Biomedical Engineering, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA 7Department of Neurology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA 8Molecular Imaging Program, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA ¥ These authors have contributed equally. Running Head: Manuscript word count: 5723 *Corresponding Author: Mohammad Avanaki Phone: +1 313 577 0703 E-mail: [email protected] 1 Review of Cost Reduction Methods in Photoacoustic Computed Tomography Abstract Photoacoustic Computed Tomography (PACT) is a major configuration of photoacoustic imaging, a hybrid noninvasive modality for both functional and molecular imaging. PACT has rapidly gained importance in the field of biomedical imaging due to superior performance as compared to conventional optical imaging counterparts. However, the overall cost of developing a PACT system is one of the challenges towards clinical translation of this novel technique. The cost of a typical commercial PACT system originates from optical source, ultrasound detector, and data acquisition unit. With growing applications of photoacoustic imaging, there is a tremendous demand towards reducing its cost. In this review article, we have discussed various approaches to reduce the overall cost of a PACT system, and provided a cost estimation to build a low-cost PACT system.
    [Show full text]
  • Photoacoustic Monitoring of Blood Oxygenation During Neurosurgical Interventions
    Photoacoustic monitoring of blood oxygenation during neurosurgical interventions Thomas Kirchner 1,2,*, Janek Gröhl 1,3, Niklas Holzwarth 1,2, Mildred A. Herrera 4, Tim Adler 1,5, Adrián Hernández-Aguilera 4, Edgar Santos 4, Lena Maier-Hein 1,3 1 Division of Computer Assisted Medical Interventions, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany. 2 Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany. 3 Medical Faculty, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany. 4 Department of Neurosurgery, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany. 5 Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany. * Please address your correspondence to Thomas Kirchner, e-mail: [email protected] Abstract Multispectral photoacoustic (PA) imaging is a prime modality to monitor hemodynamics and changes in blood oxygenation (sO2). Although sO2 changes can be an indicator of brain activity both in normal and in pathological conditions, PA imaging of the brain has mainly focused on small animal models with lissencephalic brains. Therefore, the purpose of this work was to investigate the usefulness of multispectral PA imaging in assessing sO2 in a gyrencephalic brain. To this end, we continuously imaged a porcine brain as part of an open neurosurgical intervention with a handheld PA and ultrasonic (US) imaging system in vivo. Throughout the experiment, we varied respiratory oxygen and continuously measured arterial blood gases. The arterial blood oxygenation (SaO2) values derived by the blood gas analyzer were used as a reference to compare the performance of linear spectral unmixing algorithms in this scenario. According to our experiment, PA imaging can be used to monitor sO2 in the porcine cerebral cortex.
    [Show full text]
  • High Resolution Multimodal Photoacoustic Microscopy and Optical Coherence Tomography Visualization of Choroidal Vascular Occlusion
    International Journal of Molecular Sciences Article High Resolution Multimodal Photoacoustic Microscopy and Optical Coherence Tomography Visualization of Choroidal Vascular Occlusion Van Phuc Nguyen 1,2, Yanxiu Li 1, Jessica Henry 1, Wei Zhang 3 , Xueding Wang 3 and Yannis M. Paulus 1,3,* 1 Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA; [email protected] (V.P.N.); [email protected] (Y.L.); [email protected] (J.H.) 2 NTT Hi-tech Institute, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City 70000, Vietnam 3 Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA; [email protected] (W.Z.); [email protected] (X.W.) * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 31 July 2020; Accepted: 1 September 2020; Published: 5 September 2020 Abstract: Photoacoustic microscopy is a novel, non-ionizing, non-invasive imaging technology that evaluates tissue absorption of short-pulsed light through the sound waves emitted by the tissue and has numerous biomedical applications. In this study, a custom-built multimodal imaging system, including photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) and optical coherence tomography (OCT), has been developed to evaluate choroidal vascular occlusion (CVO). CVO was performed on three living rabbits using laser photocoagulation. Longitudinal imaging of CVO was obtained using multiple imaging tools such as color fundus photography, fluorescein angiography, indocyanine green angiography (ICGA), OCT, and PAM. PAM images were acquired at different wavelengths, ranging from 532 to 700 nm. The results demonstrate that the CVO was clearly observed on PAM in both two dimensions (2D) and 3D with high resolution longitudinally over 28 days.
    [Show full text]
  • Multi-Spectral Optoacoustic Tomography: Methods and Applications
    TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITÄT MÜNCHEN Lehrstuhl für Biologische Bildgebung Multi-Spectral Optoacoustic Tomography: Methods and Applications Andreas B. Bühler Vollständiger Abdruck der von der Fakultät für Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik der Technischen Universität München zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktors der Naturwissenschaften (Dr. rer. nat.) genehmigten Dissertation. Vorsitzender: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Samarjit Chakraborty Prüfer der Dissertation: 1. Univ.- Prof. Vasilis Ntziachristos, Ph. D. 2. Univ.- Prof. Dr. Axel Haase Die Dissertation wurde am 26.07.2013 bei der Technischen Universität München eingereicht und durch die Fakultät für Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik am 09.06.2014 angenommen. ii Abstract Macroscopic optical small animal imaging plays an increasingly important role in biomedical research, as it can noninvasively examine structural, physiological, and molecular tissue features in vivo. A novel modality that emerged in the last decade is optoacoustic (photoacoustic) imaging, which combines versatile optical absorption contrast with high ultrasonic resolution and real-time imaging capabilities by capitalizing on the optoacoustic (photoacoustic) effect. Using illumination with multiple wavelengths and spectral unmixing methods, multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT) has the potential to specifically resolve tissue chromophores or administered extrinsic molecular agents non- invasively in deep tissue with unprecedented resolution performance and in real- time. The presented work explores MSOT in the context of small animal imaging. Different instrumentation and detection geometry related effects are analyzed regarding their influence on the imaging performance. Based on the findings, two dedicated MSOT imaging platforms for 2D and 3D real-time imaging of small animals and tissue samples are conceived, implemented and imaging performance is characterized by simulation, on phantoms and ex vivo in mice.
    [Show full text]
  • An Improved Biocompatible Probe for Photoacoustic Tumor Imaging Based on the Conjugation of Melanin to Bovine Serum Albumin
    applied sciences Article An Improved Biocompatible Probe for Photoacoustic Tumor Imaging Based on the Conjugation of Melanin to Bovine Serum Albumin 1, 2, 2 1 2 Martina Capozza y , Rachele Stefania y, Luisa Rosas , Francesca Arena , Lorena Consolino , Annasofia Anemone 2 , James Cimino 2, Dario Livio Longo 3,* and Silvio Aime 2 1 Center for Preclinical Imaging, Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Torino, Via Ribes 5, 10010 Colleretto Giacosa, Italy; [email protected] (M.C.); [email protected] (F.A.) 2 Molecular Imaging Center, Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Torino, Via Nizza 52, 10126 Torino, Italy; [email protected] (R.S.); [email protected] (L.R.); [email protected] (L.C.); annasofi[email protected] (A.A.); [email protected] (J.C.); [email protected] (S.A.) 3 Institute of Biostructures and Bioimaging (IBB), Italian National Research Council (CNR), Via Nizza 52, 10126 Torino, Italy * Correspondence: [email protected] These authors contributed equally to the work. y Received: 13 October 2020; Accepted: 20 November 2020; Published: 24 November 2020 Abstract: A novel, highly biocompatible, well soluble melanin-based probe obtained from the conjugation of melanin macromolecule to bovine serum albumin (BSA) was tested as a contrast agent for photoacoustic tumor imaging. Five soluble conjugates (PheoBSA A-E) were synthesized by oxidation of dopamine (DA) in the presence of variable amounts of BSA. All systems showed the similar size and absorbance spectra, being PheoBSA D (DA:BSA ratio 1:2) the one showing the highest photoacoustic efficiency.
    [Show full text]
  • Label-Free Multiphoton Microscopy: Much More Than Fancy Images
    International Journal of Molecular Sciences Review Label-Free Multiphoton Microscopy: Much More than Fancy Images Giulia Borile 1,2,*,†, Deborah Sandrin 2,3,†, Andrea Filippi 2, Kurt I. Anderson 4 and Filippo Romanato 1,2,3 1 Laboratory of Optics and Bioimaging, Institute of Pediatric Research Città della Speranza, 35127 Padua, Italy; fi[email protected] 2 Department of Physics and Astronomy “G. Galilei”, University of Padua, 35131 Padua, Italy; [email protected] (D.S.); andrea.fi[email protected] (A.F.) 3 L.I.F.E.L.A.B. Program, Consorzio per la Ricerca Sanitaria (CORIS), Veneto Region, 35128 Padua, Italy 4 Crick Advanced Light Microscopy Facility (CALM), The Francis Crick Institute, London NW1 1AT, UK; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] † These authors contributed equally. Abstract: Multiphoton microscopy has recently passed the milestone of its first 30 years of activity in biomedical research. The growing interest around this approach has led to a variety of applications from basic research to clinical practice. Moreover, this technique offers the advantage of label-free multiphoton imaging to analyze samples without staining processes and the need for a dedicated system. Here, we review the state of the art of label-free techniques; then, we focus on two-photon autofluorescence as well as second and third harmonic generation, describing physical and technical characteristics. We summarize some successful applications to a plethora of biomedical research fields and samples, underlying the versatility of this technique. A paragraph is dedicated to an overview of sample preparation, which is a crucial step in every microscopy experiment.
    [Show full text]
  • In Vivo and Ex Vivo Epi-Mode Pump-Probe Imaging of Melanin and Microvasculature
    In vivo and ex vivo epi-mode pump-probe imaging of melanin and microvasculature Thomas E. Matthews,1 Jesse W. Wilson,1 Simone Degan,1 Mary Jane Simpson,1 Jane Y. Jin,2 Jennifer Y. Zhang,2 and Warren S. Warren1,3,* 1Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA 2Department of Dermatology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA 3Department of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA *[email protected] Abstract: We performed epi-mode pump-probe imaging of melanin in excised human pigmented lesions and both hemoglobin and melanin in live xenograft mouse melanoma models to depths greater than 100 µm. Eumelanin and pheomelanin images, which have been previously demonstrated to differentiate melanoma from benign lesions, were acquired at the dermal-epidermal junction with cellular resolution and modest optical powers (down to 15 mW). We imaged dermal microvasculature with the same wavelengths, allowing simultaneous acquisition of melanin, hemoglobin and multiphoton autofluorescence images. Molecular pump- probe imaging of melanocytes, skin structure and microvessels allows comprehensive, non-invasive characterization of pigmented lesions. ©2011 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: (170.3880) Medical and biological imaging; (180.5810) Scanning microscopy; (320.7150) Ultrafast spectroscopy. References and links 1. B. G. Wang, K. König, and K. J. Halbhuber, “Two-photon microscopy of deep intravital tissues and its merits in clinical research,” J. Microsc. 238(1), 1–20 (2010). 2. T. H. Tsai, S. H. Jee, C. Y. Dong, and S. J. Lin, “Multiphoton microscopy in dermatological imaging,” J. Dermatol. Sci. 56(1), 1–8 (2009).
    [Show full text]