Comparing reconstruction algorithms for the 2D optoacoustic tomography of biological tissues

Three types of reconstruction algorithms for the optoacoustic tomography of biological tissues, based on delay-and-sum beam-forming, Fourier transform, and time reversal, are proposed. The comparison, based on both numerical and experimental data, shows the advantages of the delay-and-sum beam-forming method, which ensures acceptable computation time and improved quality of the reconstructed image.     

Polarization-sensitive optoacoustic tomography of optically diffuse tissues

Polarization is indicative of material anisotropy, a property that reveals structural orientation information of molecules inside the material. Herein we investigate whether polarization can be detected optoacoustically in scattering and absorbing tissues. Using a laboratory prototype of polarization-sensitive optoacoustic tomography, we demonstrate high-resolution reconstructions of dichroism contrast deep in optically diffusive tissue-mimicking phantoms. The technique is expected to enable highly accurate imaging of polarization contrast in tissues, far beyond the current capabilities of pure optical polarization-imaging approaches.     

Polarization-based visualization of multifractal structures for the diagnostics of pathological changes in biological tissues

The dynamics of the changes in the statistical polarization structure of coherent images of biological tissues are studied for the visualization process of their optically anisotropic (collagen) structure.     

Complex degree of mutual anisotropy of linear birefringence and optical activity of biological tissues in diagnostics of prostate cancer

We present theoretical fundamentals of polarization and correlation analysis of the optical anisotropy of biological tissues. Results of measurements of coordinate distributions of the complex degree of mutual anisotropy (CDMA) that are formed by birefringent structures of the prostate tissue with benign and malignant changes are compared. Magnitudes and ranges of variation of statistical (the firstto fourth-order distribution moments) and correlation (excess of autocorrelation functions) parameters of the coordinate CDMA distributions of histological sections of the prostate postoperative bioptic material are studied. Objective criteria of the diagnostics of the appearance of pathology and of the differentiation of the degree of its severity are determined.     

Sub-Doppler optoacoustic spectroscopy

We report the observation of saturation Lamb-dips in the optoacoustic spectrum of CH₃OH and CO₂ excited by CO₂ laser. An intermodulation technique is used to get Doppler-free resolution of the lines. Because of the small sample size and the high sensitivity intermodulated optoacoustic spectroscopy compares favorably with other Doppler-free methods.     

Doppler-free optoacoustic spectroscopy

The first observation of Doppler-free optoacoustic spectroscopy is reported. As a first example the P (193) line of the 11-0 band of the B←X transition of ¹²⁷I₂ is used. The output of cw single mode dye laser is split into two equal intensity beams chopped at frequencies ω₁ and ω₂. The nonlinear compoment of the optoacoustic signal at the frequency (ω₁ + ω₂) is detected and Doppler-free resolution is obtained. Comparing the Doppler-free optoacoustic and fluorescence spectra of iodine measured under similar conditions, good agreement is found. Since optoacoustic and fluorescence methods complement each other, this opens up new possibilities for weakly or nonfluorescing molecules.     

Laser optoacoustic measurement of paper porosity

The propagation of broadband ultrasonic pulses in combined media that consist of printing paper of different porosity saturated with different liquids is studied. The experiments are performed with three types of paper, namely, Zoom Ultra (Stora Enso, Finland) with surface densities of 80 and 100 g/m² and Data Copy (Mo Do, Sweden) with a surface density of 160 g/cm², and with two types of saturating liquids: ethanol and transformer oil. To excite ultrasonic pulses and to detect them with a high time resolution, the laser optoacoustic spectroscopy method is used. For each type of liquid-saturated paper, the phase velocity of ultrasound is measured in the frequency range of 5–35 MHz. The absence of any noticeable frequency dispersion of the phase velocity is revealed. The possibility of measuring the porosity of printing paper on the basis of the theoretical model of a two-phase medium with the use of the corresponding experimental data is demonstrated.     

Electric-field induced strain in biological tissues

This paper reports a new effect whereby a physiological-level direct-current electrical field (at 1.4 V/cm) can induce time-varying mechanical strain in various types of biological tissues and gel phantoms. This effect cannot be explained by the piezoelectric effect, tissue contraction, temperature changes, and electrorestriction. The induced strain in tissues was analyzed by processing ultrasound echo signals. The sample expanded perpendicularly to the applied electric field. The expansion rate depended on the history of the applied electric field. The speed of sound changed little compared with the expansion. The new effect might be related to electrokinetic effects.     

对光声现象的研究

选择第26届IYPT题目聆听光的声音,研究了光声现象中光功率与声强以及调制光频与声频的关系.实验结果表明:光致声声频等于入射光调制光频,光致声的声强与光频呈正相关,即在消除了斩光器的影响后,斩光器频率越高,声强越大.     

Acoustically modulated speckle imaging of biological tissues

A video laser speckle imaging technique yields images with contrast based on the mechanical properties of a tissue. Fluctuations of laser speckle patterns induced by acoustically driving the tissue at various frequencies in the 0-30-Hz range encode the mechanical strain of the tissue. At each acoustic frequency and within the camera acquisition time, each camera pixel integrates a temporally fluctuating speckle intensity whose variance encodes the mechanical strain in response to the acoustic modulation. The magnitude and the frequency dependence of this strain provide mechanical information about the tissue and are the contrast mechanism for images.     

Detection of contrast objects inside biological media by near-field microwave diagnostics

Theoretical and experimental investigations demonstrate the prospects of near-field microwave location of malignant tumors in biological tissue. The theoretical analysis is performed in terms of the theory of near-field location developed for layered structures. The experimental verification of the theory is accomplished by sounding an aqueous medium with a controllable permittivity. The tumor contrast is calculated based on the ideas of the dielectric properties of healthy and affected human tissues. The reason for and the degree of background contrasts as applied to near-field measurements are studied experimentally. An optimal measuring scheme for minimizing the masking effect of background contrasts is proposed. The 2D images of a tumor-simulating contrast object immersed in the aqueous medium at different depths are obtained. The prospects of near-field diagnostics for subsurface temperature measurement are discussed.     

Imaging with the optoacoustic effect

Optoacoustic imaging is a new technique with unusual features. It allows not only optical imaging, but also imaging of thermal structures on and in the sample. With optical radiation, images are produced from sample depths exceeding the optical penetration depth by several orders of magnitude. The resolution of, at present, about 7μm reveals microscopic structures. With simple image processing techniques information can be obtained from certain sample layers, and background structure can be suppressed.     

High-resolution ultrasound-modulated optical tomography in biological tissues

We present a novel implementation of high-resolution ultrasound-modulated optical tomography that, based on optical contrast, can image several millimeters deep into soft biological tissues. A long-cavity confocal Fabry-Perot interferometer, which provides a large etendue and a short response time, was used to detect the ultrasound-modulated coherent light that traversed the scattering biological tissue. Using 15-MHz ultrasound, we imaged with high-contrast light-absorbing structures placed >3 mm below the surface of chicken breast tissue. The resolution along the axial and the lateral directions with respect to the ultrasound propagation direction was better than 70 and 120 microm, respectively. The resolution can be scaled down further by use of higher ultrasound frequencies. This technology is complementary to other imaging technologies, such as confocal microscopy and optical-coherence tomography, and has the potential for broad biomedical applications.     

Nonlinear noise waves in soft biological tissues

The study of intense waves in soft biological tissues is necessary both for diagnostics and therapeutic aims. Tissue represents an inherited medium with frequency-dependent dissipative properties, in which waves are described by nonlinear integro-differential equations. The equations for such waves are well known. Their group analysis has been performed, and a number of exact solutions have been found. However, statistical problems for nonlinear waves in tissues have hardly been studied. As well, for medical applications, both intense noise waves and waves with fluctuating parameters can be used. In addition, statistical solutions are simpler in structure than regular solutions; they are useful for understanding the physics of processes. Below a general approach is described for solving nonlinear statistical problems applied to the considered mathematical models of biological tissues. We have calculated the dependences of the intensities of the narrowband noise harmonics on distance. For wideband noise, we have calculated the dependence of the spectral integral intensity on distance. In all cases, wave attenuation is determined both by the specific dissipative properties of the tissue and the nonlinearity of the medium.     

Noise signal propagation in soft biological tissues

Mathematical models are formulated that discribe linear and nonlinear wave propagation in biological tissues. The basis of the method is evolutionary integro-differential equations with a kernel that takes into account the specific properties of tissue. An equation is obtained for the correlation function of acoustic noise in a medium with memory. The procedure for calculating the correlation function by the given type of kernel and noise spectrum at the entrance to the medium is described. It is shown that in different tissue, there is a difference in the laws of decrease in full intensity of a wideband signal with distance. It is demonstrated that the nonlinear equation in the limiting cases of ??short-?? and ??long-term?? memory reduces to equations that have been well studied in statistical nonlinear acoustics.     

Laser microdissection of biological tissues: process optimization

The dynamical behavior of dissectats obtained in laser microdissection of biological tissues on polymer membranes can be semiquantitatively described by taking into account only the influences of gravity and friction. An important role is played by the initial velocity v₀ which is related to the momentum transfer onto the dissectats during laser ablation. From the analysis of data we suggest possibilities to increase the yield of dissectats collected in laser microdissection. PACS 42.62.Be; 52.38.Mf; 79.20.Ds; 52.50.Jm; 87.80.-y     

Time-domain transillumination of biological tissues with terahertz pulses

We present time-domain transmission imaging of an opaque structure in pork-fat tissue obtained with a terahertz (THz) field sampling technique. Compared with imaging with near-infrared pulses, the terahertz sampling technique shows significantly enhanced contrast, as a result of low scattering. For enhanced spatial resolution, we show mid-infrared THz imaging of onion cells. Water absorption of THz pulse in muscle tissues is discussed.     

Doppler-free optoacoustic spectroscopy of O-18 methanol

The Doppler-free optoacoustic spectrum of the oxygen-18 species of methanol has been investigated with a CO₂ laser. Seventeen coincidences have been found between infrared absorptions of CH¹⁸₃OH and CO₂ laser lines. The strongest feature seen, pumped by the 10R(20) CO₂ laser line, has two plausible alternative identifications, determined from a parallel high-resolution spectroscopic study of the C-O stretching band. Further experimental tests are suggested to resolve the assignment, and predicted far-infrared laser frequencies are given for the two possibilities.