A commercialized Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)-based rapid scanning photoacoustic microscopy system with switchable optical and acoustic resolutions

Abstract

A Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)-based rapid scanning photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) is available to help life science research in neuroscience, cell biology, and in vivo imaging. MicroPhotoAcoustics (MPA; Ronkonkoma, NY), the only manufacturer and vendor of Optical Resolution (OR)-PAM systems, has developed a commercial PAM system with switchable optical and acoustic resolution (OR- and AR-PAM). To achieve real-time imaging capability without sacrificing high signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), a 2-axis water-proofing MEMS scanner made of flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was demonstrated by collaboration with Pohang University of Science and Technology (South Korea) that promises to dramatically increase the system’s imaging speed. This flexible scanner results in a wide scanning range and a fast imaging speed (5 B-scan images per second). Equipped with different excitation sources, in vivo PA images of microvasculatures in a mouse ear was obtained. The lateral and axial resolutions of the OR-PAM system are 4.38 μm. It is expected that this MEMS-based fast OR-PAM system can be significantly useful in both preclinical and clinical applications. With the continuation of new technological advancements and discoveries, MPA plans to further advance PAM to achieve faster imaging speed, higher spatial resolution at deeper tissue layer, and address a broader range of biomedical applications.