Comparison of compressional and elastic wave simulations for patient-specific planning prior to transcranial photoacoustic-guided neurosurgery.

Significance: Simulations have the potential to be a powerful tool when planning the placement of photoacoustic imaging system components for surgical guidance. While elastic simulations (which include both compressional and shear waves) are expected to more accurately represent the physical transcranial acoustic wave propagation process, these simulations are more time-consuming and memory-intensive than the compressional-wave-only simulations that our group previously used to identify optimal acoustic windows for transcranial photoacoustic imaging. Aim: We present qualitative and quantitative comparisons of compressional and elastic wave simulations to determine which option is more suitable for preoperative surgical planning. Approach: Compressional and elastic photoacoustic k-Wave simulations were performed based on a computed tomography volume of a human cadaver head. Photoacoustic sources were placed in the locations of the internal carotid arteries and likely positions of neurosurgical instrument tips. Transducers received signals from three previously identified optimal acoustic windows (i.e., the ocular, nasal, and temporal regions). Target detectability, image-based target size estimates, and target-to-instrument distances were measured using the generalized contrast-to-noise ratio (gCNR), resolution, and relative source distances, respectively, for each simulation method. Results: The gCNR was equivalent between compressional and elastic simulations. The areas of the −6  dB contours of point spread functions utilized to measure resolution differed by 0.33 to 3.35  mm2. Target-to-instrument distance measurements were within 1.24 mm of the true distances. Conclusions: These results indicate that it is likely sufficient to utilize the less time-consuming, less memory-intensive compressional wave simulations for presurgical planning.