3D reconstructions in coregistered photoacoustic and ultrasonic imaging using clinical ultrasonic system

Photoacoustic Imaging (PAI) has potential for clinical applications in real-time after a tiny modification of a current US scanner. The shared detector platform facilitates a natural integration of PA and US imaging creating a hybrid imaging technique that combines functional and structural information. In this work, two blood vessels phantom experiment was conducted by coregistered photoacoustic and ultrasonic imaging using clinical ultrasonic system. The vessels were placed about 6 cm away from the transducer. With conventional irradiation, real-time PA and US images could be obtained during the experiment. 450 of 2D PA and US images and reconstructed 3D imaging were taken by transducer scanning. The result indicates the system has the ability to get the PA signal in a deep tissue depth. 3D PA image clearly describes the tissue structure and benefits the detecting in clinical application.