Simulating the effects of blood vessel depth on photoacoustic signal generation using 3D Monte Carlo method

Abstract

Photoacoustic imaging is going to play an important role in clinical imaging methods by recent progress in illumination and detection techniques. Combining good contrast optical imaging with the high spatial resolution of ultrasound imaging converts this imaging to be an indispensable imaging method for skin tissue. Here, we study the abilities of this method for imaging the variation of depth of blood vessel in the skin. In order to do it, we simulate the generation and propagation of photoacoustic signals inside the skin using a hybrid model based on the Monte Carlo method and acoustic wave equation. The effects of depth of vessel on simulated photoacoustic signal are studied. In addition the axial and lateral resolution of this method is assessed. Finally the frequency dependence of spatial resolution in the spectrum of 5- 75 MHz is also estimated. These results show that photoacoustic imaging method can be applied to study the skin diseases such as hemangioma and Port-wine stain.