Photoacoustic Imaging of Objects Hidden in Random Scattering Media

Abstract

Absorption of amplitude-modulated, continuous-wave 800-nm light by a black silicon-rubber ball located inside a highly-scattering medium, such as Intralipid suspensions and chicken breast tissue, generated ultrasound at the modulation frequency. The characteristics of this photoacoustic signal was studied with a focused ultrasound transducer. A one-dimensional image of the object was obtained by scanning it across the irradiating laser beam and monitoring the resulting photoacoustic signal.