Prototype study on a miniaturized dual-modality imaging system for photoacoustic microscopy and confocal fluorescence microscopy

Abstract

It is beneficial to study tumor angiogenesis and microenvironments by imaging the microvasculature and cells at the same time. Photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) is capable of sensitive three-dimensional mapping of microvasculature, while fluorescence microscopy may be applied to assessment of tissue pathology. In this work, a fiber-optic based PAM and confocal fluorescence microscopy (CFM) dual-modality imaging system was designed and built, serving as a prototype of a miniaturized dual-modality imaging probe for endoscopic applications. As for the design, we employed miniature components, including a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) scanner, a miniature objective lens, and a small size optical microring resonator as an acoustic detector. The system resolutions were calibrated as 8.8 &mu;m in the lateral directions for both PAM and CFM, and 19 &mu;m and 53 &mu;m in the axial direction for PAM and CFM, respectively. Images of the animal bladders <i>ex vivo</i> were demonstrated to show the ability of the system in imaging not only microvasculature but also cellular structure.