Patent ID: 11925437
Assignee: CYBERDYNE INC., UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  G | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. A photoacoustic imaging apparatus for detecting photoacoustic waves generated from a light absorber inside a subject and producing images of the light absorber on the basis of the photoacoustic waves, the photoacoustic imaging apparatus comprising:
a light emitting unit that emits pulsed light with a wavelength absorbed inside the subject;
a thin film that is pasted or applied to a skin surface of the subject, has flexibility as a whole, and makes the pulsed light transmit it and reflects the light on its outer surface at the same time;
a multi-directional light emitting unit that emits a plurality of visible light beams at the same time from multi-directions to the outer surface of the thin film;
a micro-vibration detection unit that detects, on the basis of diffraction and/or interference of a plurality of reflected light obtained from the outer surface of the thin film, a state of causing micro-vibrations of the thin film as the photoacoustic waves generated from the light absorber collide against an inner backside of the thin film; and
a shape image transformation unit that produces the images of a shape of the light absorber on the basis of a vibrational state of the thin film as detected by the micro-vibration detection unit.