Adding fifth dimension to optoacoustic imaging: volumetric time-resolved spectrally enriched tomography

• Published in: Light, science & applications science & applications, 2014-01, Vol.3 (1), p.e137-e137
• Main Authors: Luís Deán-Ben, Xosé, Razansky, Daniel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 639/624/1107/510; 639/624/1111/1115; 639/624/1111/55; Applied and Technical Physics; Atomic; Blood; Blood vessels; Classical and Continuum Physics; Enrichment; Imaging; Lasers; Medical imaging; Molecular; Optical and Plasma Physics; Optical Devices; Optics; original-article; Photonics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Spectra; Tracking
• ISSN: 2047-7538; 2047-7538
• DOI: 10.1038/lsa.2014.18

Optoacoustics provides a unique set of capabilities for bioimaging, associated with the intrinsic combination of ultrasound- and light-related advantages, such as high spatial and temporal resolution as well as powerful spectrally enriched imaging contrast in biological tissues. We demonstrate here, for the first time, the acquisition, processing and visualization of five-dimensional optoacoustic data, thus offering unparallel imaging capacities among the current bioimaging modalities. The newly discovered performance is enabled by simultaneous volumetric detection and processing of multispectral data and is further showcased here by attaining time-resolved volumetric blood oxygenation maps in deep human vessels and real-time tracking of contrast agent distribution in a murine model in vivo . Medical imaging: body scans in five dimensions Xosé Luís Deán-Ben and Daniel Razansky at the Technical University of Munich and the Helmholtz Centre Munich have demonstrated three-dimensional multispectral optoacoustic bioimaging in real time. Optoacoustic imaging is a technique wherein a laser beam absorbed by biological tissue induces the creation of a characteristic acoustic signal, which is then detected in the same way as an ultrasound. The technique plays an important role in imaging biological processes in the body due to its excellent optical contrast and high spatial resolution in deep tissues. To detect various substances such as contrast agents in living tissue, scans at multiple wavelengths are required. By employing an ultrafast millisecond timescale laser wavelength tuning along with instantaneous acquisition of volumetric image data, the researchers demonstrated a fully five-dimensional imaging system, thus providing unprecedented flexibility in the mapping of biological processes in-vivo .