A study on the real-time photoacoustic tomography system for functional imaging and the monitoring of kidney inflammation in rats

Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) is a promising medical imaging modality by reason of its particularity. It combines optical imaging contrast with the spatial resolution of ultrasound imaging, and it can distinguish changes in biological features in an image. For these reasons, many studies are in progress to apply the technique for diagnosis. However, real-time PAT systems are necessary to confirm biological reactions induced by external stimulation immediately. Thus, we have developed a real-time PAT system using a linear array transducer and a custom-developed data acquisition board (DAQ). To evaluate the feasibility and performance of our proposed system, a phantom test was also performed. As a result of those experiments, the proposed system shows satisfactory performance, and its usefulness has been confirmed. We monitored the degradation of a rat's kidney inducing inflammation, using our developed real-time PAT.