3D noninvasive, high-resolution imaging using a photoacoustic tomography (PAT) system and rapid wavelength-cycling lasers

Globally, cancer is a major health issue as advances in modern medicine continue to extend the human life span. Breast cancer ranks second as a cause of cancer death in women in the United States. Photoacoustic (PA) imaging (PAI) provides high molecular contrast at greater depths in tissue without the use of ionizing radiation. In this work, we describe the development of a PA tomography (PAT) system and a rapid wavelength-cycling Alexandrite laser designed for clinical PAI applications. The laser produces 450 mJ/pulse at 25 Hz to illuminate the entire breast, which eliminates the need to scan the laser source. Wavelength cycling provides a pulse sequence in which the output wavelength repeatedly alternates between 755 nm and 797 nm rapidly within milliseconds. We present imaging results of breast phantoms with inclusions of different sizes at varying depths, obtained with this laser source, a 5-MHz 128-element transducer and a 128-channel Verasonics system. Results include PA images and 3D reconstruction of the breast phantom at 755 and 797 nm, delineating the inclusions that mimic tumors in the breast.