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Sounding out photons

Nature Photonics volume 3, pages 123–125 (2009)Cite this article

Photoacoustic imaging, using laser light to stimulate the emission of ultrasonic waves from tissue inside the human body, potentially offers a route to far deeper imaging than possible with conventional optical techniques, reports Duncan Graham-Rowe.

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Figure 1: Schematic of a photoacoustic system for imaging the brain of small animals.
Figure 2: In vivo functional photoacoustic image of the cerebral haemodynamic changes (shown in colour) in response to whisker stimulations acquired non-invasively in a small animal, where the morphology of blood vessels is shown in grey scale.
Figure 3: In vivo photoacoustic image of blood vessels including single capillaries in a small animal, acquired non-invasively with an optical-resolution photoacoustic microscope.
Figure 4: In vivo photoacoustic image of a melanoma and the surrounding blood vessels in a small animal acquired non-invasively with a 50-MHz photoacoustic microscope.

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  1. Duncan Graham-Rowe is a freelance science and technology journalist based in Brighton, UK. duncangr@gmail.com,

    Duncan Graham-Rowe

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Graham-Rowe, D. Sounding out photons. Nature Photon 3, 123–125 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2009.7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2009.7

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