Applications of acoustical microscopy in diagnostic medicine

Even from the beginnings of acoustical microscopy in the mid‐1970s, biomedical problems were thought to be an important application area for this new technology. In fact, the first acoustical microscopy images produced by both Quate at Stanford and Kessler at Zenith were of biological structures. Unfortunately, over the past 2 decades, the wide application of acoustical microscopy to biomedicine did not develop as initially predicted. Recently, however, a new generation of biomedical scientists, coupled with a new generation of instruments, has rediscovered this technology and is applying this tool to a myriad of applications in the basic sciences as well as in diagnostic medicine. Here we report our experiences with acoustical microscopy in the evaluation of biopsy specimens, primarily from the human skin. At our institution this technology is replacing conventional optical microscopy in the evaluation of skin lesions as we develop a new standard by which tissue changes and disease processes may be defined. We also report our ongoing development of instrumentation, based on acoustical microscopy, for the noninvasive and minimally invasive diagnosis of tissue state. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 8: 61–68, 1997