基于光声成像的生物组织微结构定征研究进展*

光声成像是一种新兴的复合型生物医学成像技术,它既具有光学成像丰富的光学对比度,又具有声学成像成像深度深、深层组织空间分辨率高的优点。作为一种非侵入式的成像技术,光声成像逐渐显现出极大的生物医学应用潜力。该文首先介绍了光声成像的物理机制,以及光声显微镜和光声计算机断层成像这两种典型的光声成像技术;然后讨论了从光声射频信号中提取组织微结构的尺度、数量密度、弹性等特征参数的研究进展,并展望了其在组织定征和分类上的应用前景。

Progress of tissue microstructure classification from photoacoustic imaging

Photoacoustic imaging(PAI) is a newly emerging hybrid biomedical imaging technique with combination of rich contrasts of optical imaging method and deep inspection, high spatial resolution in deep tissues of acoustic method. As a noninvasive imaging technique, photoacoustic imaging has gradually shown great potentials in biomedicine applications. In this review, we give a brief introduction to the physical principle and classical implementations of photoacoustic imaging, photoacoustic microscopy and photoacoustic computed tomography. Then, we present some recent progress about the extraction of characteristic parameters of microstructure from photoacoustic signals including size, number density, and elasticity. Finally we look into the prospect of its applications in tissue microstructure characterization and classification.