Acoustic attenuation compensation in photoacoustic tomography: application to high-resolution 3D imaging of vascular networks in mice

The reconstruction algorithms commonly used in photoacoustic tomography do not account for the effects of acoustic attenuation on the measured time-domain signals. For experimental measurements made in biological tissue, acoustic attenuation causes the high frequency components of the generated ultrasound signals to be significantly reduced. When this signal loss is neglected, it manifests as a depth dependent magnitude error and blurring of features within the reconstructed photoacoustic image. Here, the approach described by Treeby et al. [Inverse Problems 26(11), p. 115003, 2010] is applied to the reconstruction of high-resolution threedimensional photoacoustic images of vascular networks around the abdomen of a pregnant female mouse. The reconstruction is based on the idea of time reversal in which a numerical model of the acoustic forward problem is run backwards in time. Compensation of acoustic attenuation in the inverse problem is achieved by using a forward model that accurately accounts for the frequency dependent attenuation experimentally observed in biological tissue. The regularisation of the inverse problem is discussed, and the methodology demonstrated through the reconstruction of several images. Clear improvements in image magnitude and resolution are seen when attenuation compensation is included.

[1]  P. Burgholzer,et al.  Information changes and time reversal for diffusion-related periodic fields , 2009, BiOS.

[2]  Bradley E. Treeby,et al.  Fast tissue-realistic models of photoacoustic wave propagation for homogeneous attenuating media , 2009, BiOS.

[3]  Robert Nuster,et al.  Compensation of acoustic attenuation for high-resolution photoacoustic imaging with line detectors , 2007, SPIE BiOS.

[4]  Patrick J La Rivière,et al.  Image reconstruction in optoacoustic tomography for dispersive acoustic media. , 2006, Optics letters.

[5]  Otmar Scherzer,et al.  Attenuation Models in Photoacoustics , 2012 .

[6]  Da Xing,et al.  Photoacoustic imaging with attenuation rectification of different frequent components of photoacoustic signal , 2005, SPIE/COS Photonics Asia.

[7]  B. Cox,et al.  Photoacoustic tomography in absorbing acoustic media using time reversal , 2010 .

[8]  Patrick J. La Riviere,et al.  Photoacoustic image reconstruction in an attenuating medium using singular-value decomposition , 2008, 2008 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record.

[9]  G Paltauf,et al.  Weight factors for limited angle photoacoustic tomography , 2009, Physics in medicine and biology.

[10]  Robert Nuster,et al.  Photoacoustic tomography of heterogeneous media using a model-based time reversal method , 2008, SPIE BiOS.

[11]  Jan Laufer,et al.  Three-dimensional noninvasive imaging of the vasculature in the mouse brain using a high resolution photoacoustic scanner. , 2009, Applied optics.

[12]  Lihong V. Wang,et al.  Application of time reversal to thermoacoustic tomography , 2004, SPIE BiOS.

[13]  P. Kuchment,et al.  Mathematics of thermoacoustic tomography , 2007, European Journal of Applied Mathematics.

[14]  Linh V. Nguyen,et al.  Reconstruction and time reversal in thermoacoustic tomography in acoustically homogeneous and inhomogeneous media , 2008 .

[15]  B T Cox,et al.  k-Wave: MATLAB toolbox for the simulation and reconstruction of photoacoustic wave fields. , 2010, Journal of biomedical optics.

[16]  Minghua Xu,et al.  Time-domain reconstruction for thermoacoustic tomography in a spherical geometry , 2002, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[17]  P. Burgholzer,et al.  Efficient modeling and compensation of ultrasound attenuation losses in photoacoustic imaging , 2010 .

[18]  Thomas L. Szabo,et al.  Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging: Inside Out , 2004 .

[19]  B. Cox,et al.  Modeling power law absorption and dispersion for acoustic propagation using the fractional Laplacian. , 2010, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[20]  Photoacoustic imaging of transgenic mouse embryos , 2010 .

[21]  Z. Nie,et al.  Computational Study of Time Reversal Mirror Technique for Microwave-Induced Thermo-Acoustic Tomography , 2008 .

[22]  J. Laufer,et al.  In vivo high-resolution 3D photoacoustic imaging of superficial vascular anatomy , 2009, Physics in medicine and biology.

[23]  Otmar Scherzer,et al.  Photoacoustic Imaging Taking into Account Attenuation , 2010, 1009.4350.

[24]  B T Cox,et al.  k-space propagation models for acoustically heterogeneous media: application to biomedical photoacoustics. , 2007, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[25]  M. F. Lythgoe,et al.  Photoacoustic imaging of vascular networks in transgenic mice , 2010, BiOS.

[26]  Z. Q. Zhao,et al.  Ultrasound Tomography-Guide TRM Technique for Breast Tumor Detecting in MITAT System , 2010 .

[27]  Jan Laufer,et al.  Quantitative determination of chromophore concentrations from 2D photoacoustic images using a nonlinear model-based inversion scheme. , 2010, Applied optics.

[28]  Habib Ammari,et al.  Photoacoustic Imaging for Attenuating Acoustic Media , 2012 .

[29]  Jan Laufer,et al.  Backward-mode multiwavelength photoacoustic scanner using a planar Fabry-Perot polymer film ultrasound sensor for high-resolution three-dimensional imaging of biological tissues. , 2008, Applied optics.

[30]  H. Weber,et al.  Temporal backward projection of optoacoustic pressure transients using fourier transform methods. , 2001, Physics in medicine and biology.

[31]  B. T. Cox,et al.  The challenges for quantitative photoacoustic imaging , 2009, BiOS.

[32]  Lihong V. Wang,et al.  Thermoacoustic tomography with correction for acoustic speed variations , 2006, Physics in medicine and biology.

[33]  Lihong V. Wang,et al.  Reconstructions in limited-view thermoacoustic tomography. , 2004, Medical physics.

[34]  Yulia Hristova,et al.  Time reversal in thermoacoustic tomography—an error estimate , 2008, 0812.0606.

[35]  R. Kowar.  Integral equation models for thermoacoustic imaging of acoustic dissipative tissue , 2010, 1002.4731.

[36]  T. D. Mast,et al.  A k-space method for coupled first-order acoustic propagation equations. , 2002, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[37]  M. Haltmeier,et al.  Exact and approximative imaging methods for photoacoustic tomography using an arbitrary detection surface. , 2007, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.