823 results about "Photoacoustic imaging in biomedicine" patented technology

In one aspect, the invention relates to a probe. The probe includes a sheath, a flexible, bi-directionally rotatable, optical subsystem positioned within the sheath, the optical subsystem comprising a transmission fiber, the optical subsystem capable of transmitting and collecting light of a predetermined range of wavelengths along a first beam having a predetermined beam size. The probe also includes an ultrasound subsystem, the ultrasound subsystem positioned within the sheath and adapted to propagate energy of a predetermined range of frequencies along a second beam having a second predetermined beam size, wherein a portion of the first and second beams overlap a region during a scan.

A photoacoustic imaging apparatus is provided for medical or other imaging applications and also a method for calibrating this apparatus. The apparatus employs a sparse array of transducer elements and a reconstruction algorithm. Spatial calibration maps of the sparse array are used to optimize the reconstruction algorithm. The apparatus includes a laser producing a pulsed laser beam to illuminate a subject for imaging and generate photoacoustic waves. The transducers are fixedly mounted on a holder so as to form the sparse array. A photoacoustic (PA) waves are received by each transducer. The resultant analog signals from each transducer are amplified, filtered, and converted to digital signals in parallel by a data acquisition system which is operatively connected to a computer. The computer receives the digital signals and processes the digital signals by the algorithm based on iterative forward projection and back-projection in order to provide the image.

A system and method for monitoring laser therapy of a target tissue include a therapeutic control unit having a first light source configured to deliver light to the target tissue for therapy, an ultrasonic transducer for receiving photoacoustic signals generated due to optical absorption of light energy by the target tissue, and a monitoring control unit in communication with the ultrasonic transducer for reconstructing photoacoustic tomographic images from the received photoacoustic signals to provide an optical energy deposition map of the target tissue. A second light source utilized for imaging may also be provided.

A design and a fabrication method for an intravascular imaging and therapeutic catheters for combined ultrasound, photoacoustic, and elasticity imaging and for optical and / or acoustic therapy of hollow organs and diseased blood vessels and tissues are disclosed in the present invention. The invention comprises both a device—optical fiber-based intravascular catheter designs for combined IVUS / IVPA, and elasticity imaging and for acoustic and / or optical therapy—and a method of combined ultrasound, photoacoustic, and elasticity imaging and optical and / or acoustic therapy. The designs of the catheters are based on single-element catheter-based ultrasound transducers or on ultrasound array-based units coupled with optical fiber, fiber bundles or a combination thereof with specially designed light delivery systems. One approach uses the side fire fiber, similar to the one utilized for biomedical optical spectroscopy. The second catheter design uses the micro-optics in the manner of a probe for optical coherent tomography.

A system and method combines information from a plurality of medical imaging modalities, such as PET, CT, MRI, MRSI, Ultrasound, Echo Cardiograms, Photoacoustic Imaging and Elastography for a medical image guided procedure, such that a pre-procedure image using one of these imaging modalities, is fused with an intra-procedure imaging modality used for real time image guidance for a medical procedure for any soft tissue organ or gland such as prostate, skin, heart, lung, kidney, liver, bladder, ovaries, and thyroid, wherein the soft tissue deformation and changes between the two imaging instances are modeled and accounted for automatically.

The present invention is a guide wire imaging device for vascular or non-vascular imaging utilizing optic acoustical methods, which device has a profile of less than 1 mm in diameter. The ultrasound imaging device of the invention comprises a single mode optical fiber with at least one Bragg grating, and a piezoelectric or piezo-ceramic jacket, which device may achieve omnidirectional (360°) imaging. The imaging guide wire of the invention can function as a guide wire for vascular interventions, can enable real time imaging during balloon inflation, and stent deployment, thus will provide clinical information that is not available when catheter-based imaging systems are used. The device of the invention may enable shortened total procedure times, including the fluoroscopy time, will also reduce radiation exposure to the patient and to the operator.

An ultrasonic photoacoustic imaging apparatus which includes a probe incorporating an array transducer having a plurality of transducers and an acoustic image generation unit that generates, based on a mixed signal obtained by converting an acoustic wave, in which an ultrasonic wave and a photoacoustic wave are mixed and making use of a difference between phase shift aspect of electrical signals of the ultrasonic waves from the same reflection source in the inside of the subject and phase shift aspect of electrical signals of the photoacoustic waves from the same generation source in the inside of the subject, an electrical signal reflecting the ultrasonic wave and an electrical signal reflecting the photoacoustic wave, and generates an ultrasonic image based on the electrical signal reflecting the ultrasonic wave and a photoacoustic image based on the electrical signal reflecting the photoacoustic wave.

An intraoperative registration and tracking system includes an optical source configured to illuminate tissue intraoperatively with electromagnetic radiation at a substantially localized spot so as to provide a photoacoustic source at the substantially localize spot, an optical imaging system configured to form an optical image of at least a portion of the tissue and to detect and determine a position of the substantially localized spot in the optical image, an ultrasound imaging system configured to form an ultrasound image of at least a portion of the tissue and to detect and determine a position of the substantially localized spot in the ultrasound image, and a registration system configured to determine a coordinate transformation that registers the optical image with the ultrasound image based at least partially on a correspondence of the spot in the optical image with the spot in the ultrasound image.

A photoacoustic medical imaging device may include a substrate, an array of ultrasonic transducers on the substrate, at least one groove etched on the substrate, at least one optical fiber, and at least one facet. Each optical fiber is disposed in one of the grooves. Each facet is etched in one of the grooves and coated with a layer of metal having high infrared reflectivity. Each optical fiber is configured to guide infrared light from a light source through the fiber and toward the respective facet. The facet is configured to reflect the infrared light toward a target.

An interventional photoacoustic imaging system and method for cancer treatment comprises an optical source for applying laser energy to optically excite a treatment area, a needle, ablation tool or catheter for inserting the optical source into a body of a patient adjacent the treatment area, and an ultrasonic transducer for detecting the acoustic waves. A processor receives the raw data from the ultrasound system and processes it to thereby form a photoacoustic image of the tissue in real time. As such, image formation may be performed preoperatively, intraoperatively, and postoperatively.

A photoacoustic imaging device includes an array of light sources configured and arranged to illuminate a target region and an array of ultrasonic transducers between the array of light sources and the target region. The array of transducers may be fixedly coupled to the array of light sources, and the array of ultrasonic transducers may be configured and arranged to receive ultrasound transmissions from the target region.

Various embodiments of the present invention provide for a photoacoustic imaging probe for use in a photoacoustic imaging system, whereby the probe is comprised of a cohesive composite, acoustic lens incorporating aspheric geometry and exhibiting low or practically no measurable dispersion of acoustic waves constructed of at least one material with a low acoustic impedance and attenuation and a relatively low acoustic velocity and at least one other material with a low acoustic impedance and attenuation and a relatively high acoustic velocity. The probe is housed in a conduit filled with a low acoustic velocity and low acoustic impedance fluid such as water or mineral oil. The lens may be designed as a telecentric lens, an acoustic zoom lens, a catadioptric lens, or a reflective lens. The lens focuses acoustic waves on an acoustic imager which detects the image. The acoustic imager may be designed as a 2 dimensional array of transducers. Research to date indicates that within the range of acoustic frequencies of interest, 1 MHz-50 MHz and preferable 2 MHz-10 MHz, there exists little velocity variation within the materials of interest, and the lens design approach may currently be considered to be essentially monochromatic. The acoustic waves can be generated when an emitting light source illuminates a test subject comprising materials that generate acoustic waves at differing intensities and / or frequencies when illuminated with light, for example tissue containing blood vessels, wherein the blood vessels excite and generate an acoustic pulse. The probe has an acoustic window made of a material with low acoustic impedance which allows the acoustic pulse to enter the probe without distortion and then may be reflected by a mirror onto the acoustic lens. The probe may include the emitting light source and an optical window to allow light emitting from said light source to illuminate the test subject.

The invention belongs to the technical field of non-destructive testing and measuring, and discloses a focusing rotary scanning photoacoustic ultrasonic blood vessel endoscope imaging device and a focusing rotary scanning photoacoustic ultrasonic blood vessel endoscope imaging method. The device comprises a photoacoustic ultrasonic endoscope imaging probe, a rotating connecting part and a peripheral circuit part, wherein pulse laser generates 90-degree reflection at the light outlet end and is irradiated on the blood vessel wall after being gathered by a cylindrical surface light gathering lens, photoacoustic signals are generated, a sound-sensitive element receives the photoacoustic signals, the photoacoustic signals are collected and recorded after being converted, the synchronous working of a data collector and a pulse laser is realized, triggering signals generated by the pulse laser trigger an ultrasonic pulse emitting and receiving device to emit electric signals, the electric signals trigger the sound-sensitive element to emit ultrasonic signals, the ultrasonic signals are reflected after reaching the blood vessels, are received by sound-sensitive elements and are collected and recorded after being converted, a step motor drives the device for carrying out scanning to obtain the whole blood vessel fault data, and photoacoustic and ultrasonic images are obtained after the processing. The sound-sensitive elements are shared by ultrasonic and photoacoustic images, and the high-resolution and high-sensitivity blood vessel internal ultrasonic photoacoustic imaging can be realized.

Photoacoustic imaging systems and methods that allow for the creation of three-dimensional (3D) images of a subject are described herein. The systems include one or more optical fibers attached to an ultrasound transducer. Ultrasonic waves are generated by laser light emitted from the optical fiber(s) and detected by the ultrasound transducer. 3D images are acquired by ultrasound signals from a series of adjacent scan planes or frames that are then stacked together to create 3D volume data.

A measurement apparatus capable of measuring a position and a size of an absorber with high accuracy, which includes: a light source unit for emitting a pulse beam; an illumination optical unit for leading the pulse beam emitted by the light source unit to an inside of an inspection object; and an acoustic signal detection unit for detecting a photoacoustic signal generated by the pulse beam in which the illumination optical unit includes a first and second illumination optical units that are arranged so that the inspection object is irradiated with the pulse beam from both sides thereof opposingly; and the acoustic signal detection unit is provided so that a detection surface of the acoustic signal detection unit is positioned on the same side as that of one of irradiation surfaces of the inspection object which the first and second illumination optical units irradiate with the pulse beam.

In one aspect, the invention relates to a probe. The probe includes a sheath, a flexible, bi-directionally rotatable, optical subsystem positioned within the sheath, the optical subsystem comprising a transmission fiber, the optical subsystem capable of transmitting and collecting light of a predetermined range of wavelengths along a first beam having a predetermined beam size. The probe also includes an ultrasound subsystem, the ultrasound subsystem positioned within the sheath and adapted to propagate energy of a predetermined range of frequencies along a second beam having a second predetermined beam size, wherein a portion of the first and second beams overlap a region during a scan.

Dye-peptide conjugates useful for diagnostic imaging and therapy are disclosed. The dye-peptide conjugates include several cyanine dyes with a variety of bis- and tetrakis(carboxylic acid) homologues. The small size of the compounds allows more favorable delivery to tumor cells as compared to larger molecular weight imaging agents. The various dyes are useful over the range of 350-1300 nm, the exact range being dependent upon the particular dye. Use of dimethylsulfoxide helps to maintain the fluorescence of the compounds. The molecules of the invention are useful for diagnostic imaging and therapy, in endoscopic applications for the detection of tumors and other abnormalities and for localized therapy, for photoacoustic tumor imaging, detection and therapy, and for sonofluorescence tumor imaging, detection and therapy.

The invention discloses an internal rectal optical, optoacoustic and ultrasonic multimode imaging endoscope which comprises a sleeve, an optoacoustic signal activating component, an ultrasonic signal activating and collecting component, an optical imaging component and an image reconstructing and displaying component. A device comprises a compact internal rectal optical, optoacoustic and ultrasonic multimode imaging endoscope, three kinds of imaging can be performed simultaneously, multi-parameter physical information and multi-scale structural images in recta can be acquired. The invention further provides a configuration scheme of the whole device and a method for utilizing the device for imaging. Three imaging techniques are highly integrated into one set of instrument, each imaging technique is optimized, and combination of three rectal endoscopic imaging methods of optical imaging, optoacoustic imaging and ultrasonic imaging is realized. The integrated endoscope combines specific advantages of three imaging modes, rectal physical images with multi-parameter information and multi-scale structural characteristics can be acquired, and application requirements of a rectal endoscope on medicine can be met better.

A photoacoustic wave detector detects a photoacoustic wave generated inside a specimen by light irradiated thereto. A signal processing device: forms first volume data from a first signal, the first signal being the detection signal acquired from the detector or a signal obtained by adjusting an amplitude of the detection signal; forms second volume data from a second signal, the second signal being a signal obtained by changing a phase of the first signal; forms third volume data from the first and second volume data; and generates and outputs image data representing information on an interior of the specimen from the third volume data.

A photoacoustic imaging apparatus includes a signal processor. The signal processor includes an adding unit configured to add received signals obtained by acoustic wave detecting devices to obtain a summed signal, a normalizing unit configured to normalize the summed signal for each acoustic wave detecting device with reference to an amplitude value in the received signal in the acoustic wave detecting device at the time when a maximum amplitude value in the summed signal is obtained to obtain a normalized signal, a reducing unit configured to subtract the normalized signal from the received signal for each acoustic wave detecting device to obtain a reduced signal in which the amplitude value in the received signal at the time when the maximum amplitude value in the summed signal is obtained is reduced, and an imaging unit configured to generate image data using the reduced signals.

Systems and methods of reconstructing photoacoustic imaging data corresponding to a brain of a subject through a skull of a subject utilizing a reconstruction method that incorporates a spatial model of one or more acoustic properties of the brain and skull of the subject derived from an adjunct imaging dataset.

The invention discloses a bimodal system and method integrating photoacoustic imaging and fluorescence imaging. In the invention, the complementarity between photoacoustic imaging and fluorescence imaging on the imaging theory is used, and through a common scanning light path system, photoacoustic imaging and fluorescence imaging are effectively integrated into a whole. The device for realizing the method of the invention comprises an photoacoustic imaging subsystem, a fluorescence imaging subsystem and a computer, wherein the photoacoustic imaging subsystem and the fluorescence imaging subsystem are integrated through the scanning light path system; the computer is respectively connected with the photoacoustic imaging subsystem, the fluorescence imaging subsystem and the scanning light path system; and the computer not only controls the scanning mode of the scanning light path system, but also processes the data of the photoacoustic imaging subsystem and the fluorescence imaging subsystem, combines the photoacoustic information and fluorescence information, and reconstructs photoacoustic and fluorescence bimodal images. The method of the invention has accurate positioning and high resolution, and the imaging system has lower cost and easy popularization.

A bioinformation acquisition apparatus to input a signal having uniform sensitivity and a high SN ratio at a high speed is provided. It includes a moving device moving an element group into the arrangement direction of the elements, and moves the element group situated at a first position at first time point to be situated at a second position at second time point. The element group receives an elastic wave emitted from a test object at the first time point at the first position, and the elastic wave from the test object at the second time point at the second position. The electric signal of a specified position of a test body from a first element of the elastic waves received at the first time point and the electric signal of the specified position from a second element received at the second time point are added to each other.

The present disclosure provides for a system that is adapted to simultaneously display photoacoustic and ultrasound images of the same object. An image combiner can perform spatial and temporal interpolation of the two images before generating a combined image. The combined image is then displayed on a display such as an LCD or CRT. The system is able to use motion estimates obtained from the ultrasound data to enhance the photoacoustic image thereby increasing its apparent frame rate, registering consecutive frames in order to reduce artifacts. The system is capable of generating combined ultrasound and photoacoustic images which are registered spatially and temporally.

The invention provides an application of poly-dopamine nano-particles. By researches, the inventor discovers that the poly-dopamine nano-particles have strong absorbability in the near-infrared area, and have an excellent imaging effect when being used as a photoacoustic imaging contrast agent. Experiment results indicate that the poly-dopamine nano-particles have strong photoacoustic signals, high photoacoustic imaging contrast degree and clear images.

Cyanine dye bioconjugates useful for diagnostic imaging and therapy are disclosed. The conjugates include several cyanine dyes with a variety of bis- and tetrakis (carboxylic acid) homologues. The compounds may be conjugated to bioactive peptides, carbohydrates, hormones, drugs, or other bioactive agents. The small size of the compounds allows more favorable delivery to tumor cells as compared to larger molecular weight imaging agents. The various dyes are useful over the range of 350-1300 nm, the exact range being dependent upon the particular dye. Use of dimethylsulfoxide helps to maintain the fluorescence of the compounds. The inventive compounds are useful for diagnostic imaging and therapy, in endoscopic applications for the detection of tumors and other abnormalities, for localized therapy, for photoacoustic tumor imaging, detection and therapy, and for sonofluorescence tumor imaging, detection and therapy.

The invention discloses a multichannel synchronous real-time digitalized photoacoustic imaging device and method. The multichannel synchronous real-time digitalized photoacoustic imaging device comprises a laser, a multi-element ultrasonic detector, a front amplification circuit and a data imaging processing unit, wherein the data imaging processing unit comprises a plurality of field programmable gate array (FPGA) acquisition cards, a clock synchronous board card, a programmable communication interface (PCI) extensions for instrumentation express (PXIe) backboard and a central processing unit (CPU) board card, and can be used for realizing acquisition processing for at least 32 paths of synchronous photoacoustic signals. The multichannel synchronous real-time digitalized photoacoustic imaging method comprises the following steps that: the multi-element ultrasonic detector receives the photoacoustic signals produced by laser irradiation on a biological tissue, amplifies the photoacoustic signals and respectively transmits the signals to the FPGA acquisition cards; and each FPGA acquisition card performs preprocessing, deconvolution, continuous wavelet transformation and photoacoustic attenuation compensation on the signals, then transmits the signals to another FPGA acquisition card in a peer-to-peer (P2P) manner, performs imaging processing by adopting a 2-D (two-dimensional) filtration back-projection algorithm, and finally transmits the structure to an upper computer. The method is finished on an FPGA processor; according to a modular design, the expansion of the large-scale detector is simplified; and the device and the method are favorable for clinical application of photoacoustic imaging systems.

The invention provides an array probe-based real-time photoacoustic imaging device, which belongs to the technical field of nondestructive testing on biological tissue. The array probe-based real-time photoacoustic imaging device in the invention adopts a multi-element array ultrasonic probe to synchronously observe and acquire photoacoustic signals which are amplified and then transmitted to an A / D converter for uniform sampling, and adopts an on-site programmable gate array FPGA to input acquired photoacoustic image data into a memory of a computer through a USB interface and perform online beamforming, digital signal and image processing and real-time display on acquired photoacoustic image data on the computer. The array probe-based real-time photoacoustic imaging device in the invention comprises a laser, the multi-element array ultrasonic probe, a multi-channel parallel acquisition circuit and the computer. The array probe-based real-time photoacoustic imaging device in the invention adopts a multi-channel parallel acquisition and distributed quickly-reconstructed processing mechanism and a hardware platform to ensure no bottleneck in a process of signal acquisition and signal processing and realize the real-time imaging of the photoacoustic signals, and adopts the multi-channel parallel acquisition circuit to realize the parallel acquisition and storage of the data; and in the multi-channel parallel acquisition circuit, the number of channels can be adjusted according to actual needs so as to acquire optimal imaging effect.