Characterizing a photoacoustic and fluorescence imaging platform for preclinical murine longitudinal studies

SIGNIFICANCE: To effectively study preclinical animal models, medical imaging technology must be developed with a high enough resolution and sensitivity to perform anatomical, functional, and molecular assessments. Photoacoustic (PA) tomography provides high resolution and specificity, and fluorescence (FL) molecular tomography provides high sensitivity; the combination of these imaging modes will enable a wide range of research applications to be studied in small animals. AIM: We introduce and characterize a dual-modality PA and FL imaging platform using in vivo and phantom experiments. APPROACH: The imaging platform’s detection limits were characterized through phantom studies that determined the PA spatial resolution, PA sensitivity, optical spatial resolution, and FL sensitivity. RESULTS: The system characterization yielded a PA spatial resolution of [Formula: see text] in the transverse plane and [Formula: see text] in the longitudinal axis, a PA sensitivity detection limit not less than that of a sample with absorption coefficient [Formula: see text] , an optical spatial resolution of [Formula: see text] in the vertical axis and [Formula: see text] in the horizontal axis, and a FL sensitivity detection limit not [Formula: see text] concentration of IR-800. The scanned animals displayed in three-dimensional renders showed high-resolution anatomical detail of organs. CONCLUSIONS: The combined PA and FL imaging system has been characterized and has demonstrated its ability to image mice in vivo, proving its suitability for biomedical imaging research applications.