Optoacoustic diagnostic platform: Principles, instrumentation, and applications

Optoacoustic diagnostics is a novel imaging modality based on detection and analysis of optoacoustic waves induced in tissues. We proposed and tested in animal and clinical studies a number of important optoacoustic diagnostic applications such as diagnostics of cerebral hypoxia, circulatory shock, anemia, thermotherapy monitoring, as well as breast cancer and hematoma detection. Our initial studies were performed with OPO-based systems. Recently, we developed and built FDA-compliant, multi-wavelength, fiber-coupled, highly-compact laser diode optoacoustic systems for imaging, monitoring, and sensing. To provide optoacoustic detection with high SNR, we developed ultra-sensitive optoacoustic probes that incorporate light delivery systems and wide-band acoustic sensors. This optoacoustic instrumentation allows for sensitive detection of optoacoustic signals from small tumors, native, coagulated and frozen tissues, intracranial hematomas, cerebral blood vessels such as the superior sagittal sinus, central veins such as the internal jugular vein, peripheral veins and arteries. We demonstrated also other examples of imaging, sensing, and monitoring with the optoacoustic instrumentation developed by our group including automatic, real-time, continuous measurements of blood oxygenation with high accuracy.