Patent ID: 11925472
Assignee: WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  G | IPC A  G

Claim 0:
1. A method of imaging a microvasculature within a tissue using a fast-scanning optical-resolution photoacoustic (fsOR-PAE) system, the method comprising:
providing an fsOR-PAE endoscope comprising a scanning mirror and an ultrasonic transducer housed within an elongate housing, a set of doublets positioned between a pulsed laser source and the scanning mirror, and the pulsed laser source, the pulsed laser source and the ultrasonic transducer coupled to the scanning mirror;
positioning the elongate housing within the tissue;
producing a plurality of laser pulses using the pulsed laser;
focusing the plurality of laser pulses using the set of doublets pulses;
directing the plurality of laser pulses through an imaging window formed within the housing to a plurality of focal spots within the tissue in a scanning pattern using the scanning mirror, wherein directing the plurality of laser pulses in a scanning pattern comprises scanning in a sweep parallel to cylindrical axis and a B-scan rate of 250 Hz over a 3 mm range;
receiving and directing a plurality of photoacoustic signals produced at the plurality of focal spots to the ultrasonic transducer via the imaging window;
detecting the plurality of photoacoustic signals using the ultrasonic transducer; and
transforming the plurality of detected photoacoustic signals into an image of the microvasculature, wherein the image comprises a lateral resolution of less than 5 μm.