Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) refers to imaging that is based on the photoacoustic effect. Although the photoacoustic effect as a physical phenomenon was first reported on by Alexander Graham Bell in 1880 [1], PAT as an imaging technology was developed only after the advent of ultrasonic transducers, computers, and lasers [2-31]. A review on biomedical photoacoustics is available [32]. The motivation for PAT is to combine optical-absorption contrast with ultrasonic spatial resolution for deep imaging in the optical quasi-diffusive or diffusive regime. In PAT, the tissue is irradiated by usually a short-pulsed laser beam to achieve a thermal and acoustic impulse response (Fig. 19.1). Locally absorbed light is converted into heat, which is further converted to a pressure rise via thermo-elastic expansion. The initial pressure rise - determined by the local optical absorption coefficient (μ â ), fluence (ψ) and other thermal and mechanical properties - propagates as an ultrasonic wave, which is referred to as a photoacoustic wave. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
CITATION STYLE
Wang, L. V. (2010). Photoacoustic tomography. In Optical-Thermal Response of Laser-Irradiated Tissue (pp. 743–760). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8831-4_19
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