Polarization-sensitive optoacoustic tomography of optically diffuse tissues

Opt Lett. 2008 Oct 15;33(20):2308-10. doi: 10.1364/ol.33.002308.

Abstract

Polarization is indicative of material anisotropy, a property that reveals structural orientation information of molecules inside the material. Herein we investigate whether polarization can be detected optoacoustically in scattering and absorbing tissues. Using a laboratory prototype of polarization-sensitive optoacoustic tomography, we demonstrate high-resolution reconstructions of dichroism contrast deep in optically diffusive tissue-mimicking phantoms. The technique is expected to enable highly accurate imaging of polarization contrast in tissues, far beyond the current capabilities of pure optical polarization-imaging approaches.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Acoustics*
  • Animals
  • Anisotropy
  • Diagnostic Imaging / methods
  • Equipment Design
  • Humans
  • Light
  • Mice
  • Microscopy, Polarization / instrumentation
  • Microscopy, Polarization / methods*
  • Optics and Photonics
  • Phantoms, Imaging
  • Scattering, Radiation
  • Tomography, Optical Coherence / methods*