Gas-coupled laser acoustic detection as a non-contact line detector for photoacoustic and ultrasound imaging

Abstract

Conventional contacting transducers for ultrasonic wave detection are highly sensitive and tuned for real-time imaging with fixed array geometries. However, optical detection provides an alternative to contacting transducers when a small sensor footprint, a large frequency bandwidth, or non-contacting detection is required. Typical optical detection relies on a Doppler-shifted reflection of light from the target, but gas coupled-laser acoustic detection (GCLAD) provides an alternative optical detection method for photoacoustic (PA) and ultrasound imaging that does not involve surface reflectivity. Instead, GCLAD is a line-detector that measures the deflection of an optical beam propagating parallel to the sample, as the refractive index of the air near the sample is affected by particle displacement on the sample surface. We describe the underlying principles of GCLAD and derive a formula for quantifying the surface displacement from a remote GCLAD measurement. We discuss a design for removing the location-dependent displacement bias along the probe beam and a method for measuring the attenuation coefficient of the surrounding air. GCLAD results are used to quantify the surface displacement in a laser-ultrasound experiment, which shows 94% agreement to line-integrated data from a commercial laser vibrometer point detector. Finally, we demonstrate the feasibility of PA imaging of an artery-sized absorber using a detector 5.8 cm from a phantom surface.