Independent component analysis of photoacoustic depth profiles

Photoacoustic spectroscopy is a powerful tool to non-destructively retrieve depth related information with minimal sample preparation from heterogeneous samples. Using a phase modulated step-scan arrangement and digital signal processing a series of spectra with effectively different modulation frequencies, probing different thermal diffusion lengths within a sample, can be collected simultaneously. In this report independent component analysis is used to analyze photoacoustic data acquired from a multilayer sample in an attempt to isolate the spectra of the constituent layers. The ICA findings are compared to the approach of eliciting this information through difference spectroscopy. The results suggest that ICA may offer substantial benefits for segmentation of PAS depth profiles without user intervention. This approach can be useful in analysis of complex heterogeneous samples when one has no prior knowledge of their constituents or their distribution in the sample.