Image quality assessment using different types of optical diffusers for photoacoustic tomography

We have investigated different types of optical diffusers for the image quality assessment of photoacoustic tomography (PAT). PAT has been adapted in many biomedical research efforts over the past decade, however, studies on image quality of PAT have not been performed as much as that for photoacoustic microscopy. We developed a simple imaging phantom using strings of red plastic embedded in gelatinous base. Using a 532 nm Nd:YAG laser and focused/unfocused transducers, we reconstructed PAT images of the phantom with various types of optical diffusers placed on top of phantoms. Our initial results showed that the uniformity of the diffuser did not affect the PAT image quality, while the degree of light scattering contributed relatively more to the image quality. Image quality of biological samples will be presented and discussed.