Abstract
Photoacoustic imaging is a new type of noninvasive, nonradiation imaging modality that combines the deep penetration of ultrasonic imaging and high specificity of optical imaging. Photoacoustic imaging systems employing conventional ultrasonic sensors impose certain constraints such as obstructions in the optical path, bulky sensor size, complex system configurations, difficult optical and acoustic alignment, and degradation of signal-to-noise ratio. To overcome these drawbacks, an ultrasonic sensor in the optically transparent form has been introduced, as it enables direct delivery of excitation light through the sensors. In recent years, various types of optically transparent ultrasonic sensors have been developed for photoacoustic imaging applications, including optics-based ultrasonic sensors, piezoelectric-based ultrasonic sensors, and microelectromechanical system-based capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers. In this paper, the authors review representative transparent sensors for photoacoustic imaging applications. In addition, the potential challenges and future directions of the development of transparent sensors are discussed.
Highlights
Photoacoustic imaging (PAI), based on the photoacoustic (PA) effect, is a new type of noninvasive, nonradiation biomedical imaging modality that has been rapidly developing in recent years [1,2], as it combines the deep penetration of ultrasonic (US) imaging and the high specificity of optical imaging
To allow the laser to pass through the US sensor directly to the surface of the tissues without much loss, doughnut-shaped or hollow-shaped US sensors have been developed in PAI [13,15,16]
We aim to review recent advances in transparent sensors for PAI applications, focusing on various types of transparent US sensors, as well as their corresponding materials and techniques
Summary
Photoacoustic imaging (PAI), based on the photoacoustic (PA) effect, is a new type of noninvasive, nonradiation biomedical imaging modality that has been rapidly developing in recent years [1,2], as it combines the deep penetration of ultrasonic (US) imaging and the high specificity of optical imaging. A US sensor, called a US transducer, is often used to detect the excited high-frequency and wide-band PA signals from the target tissue irradiated by the laser pulses, which makes it possible to combine rich optical contrast and deep acoustic penetration beyond the optical diffraction limit [8,9,10,11,12]. The acoustic sensitivity and focusing ability of the US sensor will be reduced due to the removal of its central part, and this type of US sensor is too big to obtain a better spatial resolution comparable with optical microscopy To overcome these drawbacks, a US sensor in the optically transparent form has been introduced, as it enables direct delivery of excitation light through the sensors. Potential challenges and future directions in the development of transparent sensors are discussed
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