Photoacoustic computed microscopy

Photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) is emerging as a powerful technique for imaging microvasculature at depths beyond the ~1 mm depth limit associated with confocal microscopy, two-photon microscopy and optical coherence tomography. PAM, however, is currently qualitative in nature and cannot quantitatively measure important functional parameters including oxyhemoglobin (HbO(2)), deoxyhemoglobin (HbR), oxygen saturation (sO(2)), blood flow (BF) and rate of oxygen metabolism (MRO(2)). Here we describe a new photoacoustic microscopic method, termed photoacoustic computed microscopy (PACM) that combines current PAM technique with a model-based inverse reconstruction algorithm. We evaluate the PACM approach using tissue-mimicking phantoms and demonstrate its in vivo imaging ability of quantifying HbO(2), HbR, sO(2), cerebral BF and cerebral MRO(2) at the small vessel level in a rodent model. This new technique provides a unique tool for neuroscience research and for visualizing microvasculature dynamics involved in tumor angiogenesis and in inflammatory joint diseases.