Collecting back-reflected photons in photoacoustic microscopy

Opt Express. 2010 Jan 18;18(2):1278-82. doi: 10.1364/OE.18.001278.

Abstract

Since the photoacoustic effect relies only on the absorbed optical energy, the back-reflected photons from samples in optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy are usually discarded. By employing a 2 x 2 single-mode fiber optical coupler in a laser-scanning optical-resolution photoacoustic microscope for delivering the illuminating laser light and collecting the back reflected photons, a fiber-optic confocal microscope is integrated with the photoacoustic microscope. Thus, simultaneous multimodal imaging can be achieved with a single light source and images from the two modalities are intrinsically registered. Such capabilities are demonstrated in imaging both phantoms and small animals in vivo.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Fiber Optic Technology / instrumentation*
  • Image Enhancement / instrumentation*
  • Mice
  • Microscopy, Acoustic / instrumentation*
  • Microscopy, Confocal / instrumentation*
  • Phantoms, Imaging
  • Photons
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Systems Integration