<title>Laser optoacoustic technique for real-time measurement of thermal damage in tissues</title>

Abstract

Optoacoustic monitoring of thermally-induced damage in tissues in real time is proposed as a mean for controlling the extent of tissue coagulation in human organs, such as liver, prostate, myocardium, breast, and brain. This technique can potentially provide fast and accurate feedback information during tumor thermal coagulation by interstitial delivery of laser, ultrasonic, radiofrequency, and microwave radiation or conductive and convective heating. Amplitude and temporal characteristics of optoacoustic signals are dependent on optical and thermophysical properties of tissues. Changes in tissue optical properties during coagulation can be detected by measuring and analyzing the amplitude and temporal characteristics of the optoacoustic signals. We performed studies on optoacoustic monitoring of coagulation by CW Nd:YAG laser interstitial irradiation and conductive heating. Q-switched Nd:YAG laser pulses were used as a probing radiation to obtain optoacoustic pressure profiles and images. Our preliminary studies suggest that the laser optoacoustic technique is capable of detecting thermally-induced changes in optical properties of liver, myocardium, and prostate. The major merits of the laser optoacoustic monitoring of tissue coagulation include high contrast provided by changes in tissue optical properties, capability to perform real-time measurements, and high spatial resolution.