Enhanced visibility through microbubble-induced photoacoustic fluctuation imaging

TL;DR

This paper introduces a photoacoustic fluctuation imaging technique that leverages microbubbles to enhance visibility and contrast in blood flow imaging by analyzing induced signal fluctuations.

Contribution

It presents a novel contrast mechanism using microbubble-induced photoacoustic fluctuations to improve imaging contrast in flow phantom experiments.

Findings

Non-linear increase in standard deviation with microbubble concentration and size

Enhanced visibility and contrast in blood flow phantom imaging

Demonstration of microbubble-induced fluctuation imaging effectiveness

Abstract

A photoacoustic contrast mechanism is presented based on the photoacoustic fluctuations induced by microbubbles flowing inside a micro vessel filled with a continuous absorber. It is demonstrated that the standard deviation of a homogeneous absorber mixed with microbubbles increases non-linearly as the microbubble concentration and microbubble size is increased. This effect is then utilized to perform photoacoustic fluctuation imaging with increased visibility and contrast of a blood flow phantom.