High-resolution photoacoustic microscope for rat brain imaging in vivo

Abstract

A reflection-mode photoacoustic microscope (PAM) for rat brain imaging in vivo is constructed. A pulsed laser is used as an excitation source, and a focused ultrasound transducer is adopted to collect the photoacoustic signal. Raster scanning is applied to acquire three-dimensional (3D) data. The obtained measurements of the lateral and axial resolutions of the microscope are 45 and 15 \mu m, respectively. The imaging depth in the chicken breast tissue is 3.1 mm at a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 20 dB without any signal averaging. The imaging speed is 30 A-line/s. Experimental results in vivo demonstrate the capability of 3D imaging of the brain vessels of the rat after removing the skull.

Additional details