Photoacoustic imaging driven by an interstitial irradiation source

Photoacoustic (PA) imaging has shown tremendous promise in providing valuable diagnostic and therapy-monitoring information in select clinical procedures. Many of these pursued applications, however, have been relatively superficial due to difficulties with delivering light deep into tissue. To address this limitation, this work investigates generating a PA image using an interstitial irradiation source with a clinical ultrasound (US) system, which was shown to yield improved PA signal quality at distances beyond 13 mm and to provide improved spectral fidelity. Additionally, interstitially driven multi-wavelength PA imaging was able to provide accurate spectra of gold nanoshells and deoxyhemoglobin in excised prostate and liver tissue, respectively, and allowed for clear visualization of a wire at 7 cm in excised liver. This work demonstrates the potential of using a local irradiation source to extend the depth capabilities of future PA imaging techniques for minimally invasive interventional radiology procedures.