Virtual-detector synthetic aperture focusing technique with application in in vivo photoacoustic microscopy

Meng-Lin Li; Hao F. Zhang; Konstantin Maslov; George Stoica; Lihong V. Wang

doi:10.1117/12.645115

6 March 2006 Virtual-detector synthetic aperture focusing technique with application in in vivo photoacoustic microscopy

Meng-Lin Li, Hao F. Zhang, Konstantin Maslov, George Stoica, Lihong V. Wang

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6086, Photons Plus Ultrasound: Imaging and Sensing 2006: The Seventh Conference on Biomedical Thermoacoustics, Optoacoustics, and Acousto-optics; 60861F (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.645115
Event: SPIE BiOS, 2006, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

In this study, we introduce a synthetic aperture focusing technique which employs a virtual detector concept, combined with coherence weighting, to extend the depth of focus for an in-vivo photoacoustic microscopy system. This technique treats the transducer's focal point as a virtual point detector of photoacoustic signals, delays adjacent scan lines relative to the virtual detector, and then sums the delayed signals to achieve focusing in the out-of-focus region. In addition, a coherence factor among the delayed signals for each synthesized imaging point is used as a weighting factor to further improve the focusing quality. Images of an Intralipid phantom containing a carbon fiber show how this technique improves the -6 dB lateral resolution from 49-379 μm to 46-53 μm and increases the SNR by 0-29 dB, depending on the distance from the ultrasonic focal point. In vivo experiments show that this technique also provides a clearer tumorassociated angiogenesis in the mouse's scalp. The extended depth of focus for the photoacoustic microscopy system enables 3D reconstruction of the vascular network for the study of tumor angiogenesis.

Citation Download Citation

Meng-Lin Li, Hao F. Zhang, Konstantin Maslov, George Stoica, and Lihong V. Wang "Virtual-detector synthetic aperture focusing technique with application in in vivo photoacoustic microscopy", Proc. SPIE 6086, Photons Plus Ultrasound: Imaging and Sensing 2006: The Seventh Conference on Biomedical Thermoacoustics, Optoacoustics, and Acousto-optics, 60861F (6 March 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.645115

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