Handheld Optical Micros
Handheld Optical Micros
Handheld Optical Micros
photoacoustic microscopy
Li Lin
Pengfei Zhang
Song Xu
Junhui Shi
Lei Li
Junjie Yao
Lidai Wang
Jun Zou
Lihong V. Wang
Li Lin, Pengfei Zhang, Song Xu, Junhui Shi, Lei Li, Junjie Yao, Lidai Wang, Jun Zou, Lihong V. Wang,
“Handheld optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy,” J. Biomed. Opt. 22(4), 041002 (2016),
doi: 10.1117/1.JBO.22.4.041002.
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Journal of Biomedical Optics 22(4), 041002 (April 2017)
Abstract. Optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM) offers label-free in vivo imaging with high
spatial resolution by acoustically detecting optical absorption contrasts via the photoacoustic effect. We devel-
oped a compact handheld OR-PAM probe for fast photoacoustic imaging. Different from benchtop microscopes,
the handheld probe provides flexibility in imaging various anatomical sites. Resembling a cup in size, the probe
uses a two-axis water-immersible microelectromechanical system mirror to scan both the illuminating optical
beam and resultant acoustic beam. The system performance was tested in vivo by imaging the capillary
bed in a mouse ear and both the capillary bed and a mole on a human volunteer. © 2016 Society of Photo-Optical
Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) [DOI: 10.1117/1.JBO.22.4.041002]
Keywords: photoacoustic handheld probe; optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy; two-axis microelectromechanical system mir-
ror; confocal scanning; human skin imaging.
Paper 160264SSR received Apr. 21, 2016; accepted for publication Jun. 9, 2016; published online Oct. 24, 2016.
lens (45-119, Edmund) is attached to the top surface of the com- To characterize the lateral resolution of the handheld
biner to correct prism-induced aberration.10 Volumetric imaging OR-PAM system, the edge of a sharp blade was imaged in
is provided by fast rotational scanning along the x-axis and slow water, with a step size of 1 μm and a scanning range of
rotational scanning along the y-axis, as well as by the time- 250 μm along the x-axis. After conversion from polar coordi-
resolved detection of the ultrasound signal. The imaging nates to Cartesian coordinates, the maximum amplitude projec-
probe is filled with water for ultrasound coupling. tion (MAP) of the B-scan along the acoustic axis was calculated
Figure 1(b) is a 3-D rendering of the OR-PAM handheld and is plotted as a function of the displacement of the optical and
probe. The probe has dimensions of 80 mm × 115 mm × acoustic foci from the edge (Fig. 2). Assuming a Gaussian line
150 mm along the x, y, and z axes. The lens tube is mounted spread function, fitting of the measured data to an error function
on a five-axis lens positioner (LP-05A, Newport), which is indicates a lateral resolution of 5.0 μm (FWHM), which agrees
used for fine tuning the laser beam. The MEMS scanning mir- well with the theoretical diffraction-limited focused laser spot
ror is fixed on a compact linear stage (DS25-XY, Newport) for size (4.9 μm). The lateral resolution in tissue decreases with im-
precise position adjustment. The front, bottom, and cover pan- aging depth due to optical scattering.17 The axial resolution of
els are made of transparent acrylic to help to localize the tar- the system is determined by the bandwidth of the ultrasound
geted area. The imaging window on the bottom panel has a transducer and was estimated to be 26 μm. The penetration
diameter of 6 mm and is sealed with a transparent film. A depth of the handheld probe was quantified by a hair embedded
clamp mounted on the top of the probe protects the fiber in an optical scattering medium consisting of 2% Intralipid sol-
from excessive bending. The PA signal from the ultrasound ution (reduced scattering coefficient μs0 ¼ 15 cm−1 at 532 nm)
transducer is amplified by two integrated amplifiers (ZX60- and 3% agar gel, which mimics the reduced scattering coeffi-
43-S+ and ZFL-500LN+, Minicircuits) that provide a total cient of the human skin.23 The x-z projected MAP image is
amplification of 41 dB. The probe is grounded through a shown in Fig. 2(b). The PA signal from the hair 0.54 mm
cable attached to the backboard. beneath the surface (indicated by the dashed line) was still
The handheld probe is connected to the main system includ- detectable when 100-nJ pulse energy was used.
ing the laser, MEMS driver, data acquisition (DAQ) devices, and To demonstrate the imaging capability of the handheld
computer. The light is provided by a fiber laser (VPFL-G-10, OR-PAM probe, blood vessels in a nude mouse ear were imaged
VGEN) that generates 5-ns pulses at 532 nm, with a pulse rep- in vivo. All experimental animal procedures followed the labo-
etition rate of 88 kHz. The MEMS mirror is driven by a sinus- ratory animal protocol approved by the Animal Studies
oidal current from a homemade MEMS driver. The amplified Committee of Washington University in St. Louis. The mouse
PA signal from the probe is recorded by the DAQ device ear was acoustically coupled beneath the imaging window by
(ATS9350, Alazar Technologies) with a sampling rate of ultrasound gel. The round-trip scanning frequency of the MEMS
250 MHz. A low-pass filter (BLP-70+, Minicircuits) is con- mirror was set at 220 Hz for the fast axis and 1 Hz for the slow
nected between the amplifier and the analog-to-digital converter axis. Then, a region of 2.5 mm × 2.0 mm was imaged with a
to eliminate high-frequency noises. Both the mirror scanning volumetric imaging rate of 2 Hz (bidirectional scanning). The
and the DAQ are synchronized with the laser pulse. laser pulse energy was measured as 130 nJ under the imaging
Fig. 1 Schematic of the OR-PAM handheld probe. (a) 2-D sketch of the optical and acoustic beams in
the probe. UT, ultrasound transducer; AC, aluminum coating; AL, acoustic lens. (b) 3-D rendering of the
OR-PAM handheld probe. The front and the left side panels are removed for better visualization.
Fig. 5 OR-PAM of the human skin by the handheld probe. (a) OR-PAM image of capillaries in a cuticle.
(b) Photograph of the OR-PAM handheld probe imaging a red mole on a volunteer’s leg. (c) Photograph
of the mole. (d) OR-PAM image of the mole. The color bar shows the normalized PA signal amplitude.
The key advantage of a handheld system is its capability of and National Science Foundation (NSF) (1255930). The authors
imaging an area that is usually not accessible by a benchtop thank Professor James Ballard for his close reading of the
device. To demonstrate this advantage, a red mole on a healthy manuscript. L. V. Wang has a financial interest in
volunteer’s leg was imaged by the handheld OR-PAM probe, as Microphotoacoustics, Inc., which, however, did not support
shown in Figs. 5(b)–5(d). The scan fully covered the mole, and this work.
a single C-scan PAM image was able to resolve the features,
with an SNR of 20 dB. The optical fluence at the skin surface
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25. American National Standards Institute, American National Standard for University of Toronto. After working as a postdoctoral research fellow
the Safe Use of Lasers, American National Standards Institute, New in the Washington University in St. Louis, he joined City University of
York (2000). Hong Kong in 2015. His research focuses on biophotonics, biomedi-
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reviewed journals and has received four best paper awards from
Li Lin is currently a PhD student at Washington University in St. Louis, international conferences.
under the tutelage of Dr. Lihong V. Wang. He earned his master’s
degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 2013 and a bachelor’s Jun Zou received his PhD degree in electrical engineering from the
degree at Tianjin University in 2011. His research focuses on photo- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2002. In 2004, he joined
acoustic tomography and microscopy. in the department of electrical and computer engineering at Texas
A&M University, where he is currently an associate professor. His cur-
Pengfei Zhang obtained his PhD in optics in 2008 from Shanghai rent research interests lie in the development of micro and nano opto-
Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics. In 2009 he joined East electro-mechanical devices and systems for biomedical imaging and
Carolina University as a postdoc and worked on laser tweezers sensing applications.
and Raman spectroscopy. In 2012, he joined Los Alamos National
Laboratory as a postdoctoral research associate and his research Lihong V. Wang received his PhD degree at Rice University,
focused on advanced light microscopy and single molecule spectros- Houston, Texas. Currently, he is holding the Gene K. Beare distin-
copy. He joined Washington University in St. Louis in 2016 as a guished professorship of biomedical engineering at Washington
research associate and is working on photoacoustic imaging. University in St. Louis. He has published 400 peer-reviewed journal
articles and delivered 400 keynote, plenary, or invited talks. His goo-
Song Xu received his B.S. in optical and electrical engineering from gle scholar h-index and citations have reached 92 and over 34,000,
Huazhong Univ. of Science and Technology, P. R. China (2012). He is respectively.