Dual-modality photoacoustic remote sensing (PARS) microscopy and swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) for in-vivo imaging

Abstract

A dual-modal optical imaging system combining photoacoustic remote sensing (PARS) and swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) is presented. The PARS subsystem utilized a pulsed excitation beam at 532 nm confocal with a low-coherence interrogation beam centered at 830 nm to detect photoacoustic signals. The OCT subsystem employs a 1060 nm VCSEL swept source with a 60 kHz A-scan rate and 8 μm axial resolution in tissue. Volumetric images were acquired from carbon fibers and in-vivo biological tissues. To our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating a combination of SS-OCT with optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy for in-vivo, non-contact imaging of tissues.