• Imaging Science in Dentistry
• /
• v.51 no.2
• /
• pp.107-115
• /
• 2021

Purpose: This study aimed to demonstrate the presence of dental caries through a photoacoustic imaging system with visible and near-infrared wavelengths, highlighting the differences between the 2 spectral regions. The depth at which carious tissue could be detected was also verified. Materials and Methods: Fifteen permanent molars were selected and classified as being sound or having incipient or advanced caries by visual inspection, radiography, and optical coherence tomography analysis prior to photoacoustic scanning. A photoacoustic imaging system operating with a nanosecond pulsed laser as the light excitation source at either 532 nm or 1064 nm and an acoustic transducer at 5 MHz was developed, characterized, and used. En-face and lateral(depth) photoacoustic signals were detected. Results: The results confirmed the potential of the photoacoustic method to detect caries. At both wavelengths, photoacoustic imaging effectively detected incipient and advanced caries. The reconstructed photoacoustic images confirmed that a higher intensity of the photoacoustic signal could be observed in regions with lesions, while sound surfaces showed much less photoacoustic signal. Photoacoustic signals at depths up to 4 mm at both 532 nm and 1064 nm were measured. Conclusion: The results presented here are promising and corroborate that photoacoustic imaging can be applied as a diagnostic tool in caries research. New studies should focus on developing a clinical model of photoacoustic imaging applications in dentistry, including soft tissues. The use of inexpensive light-emitting diodes together with a miniaturized detector will make photoacoustic imaging systems more flexible, user-friendly, and technologically viable.

• Neurospine
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.306-322
• /
• 2018

This review introduces the current technique of photoacoustic imaging as it is applied in imaging-guided surgery (IGS), which provides the surgeon with image visualization and analysis capabilities during surgery. Numerous imaging techniques have been developed to help surgeons perform complex operations more safely and quickly. Although surgeons typically use these kinds of images to visualize targets hidden by bone and other tissues, it is nonetheless more difficult to perform surgery with static reference images (e.g., computed tomography scans and magnetic resonance images) of internal structures. Photoacoustic imaging could enable real-time visualization of regions of interest during surgery. Several researchers have shown that photoacoustic imaging has potential for the noninvasive diagnosis of various types of tissues, including bone. Previous studies of the surgical application of photoacoustic imaging have focused on cancer surgery, but photoacoustic imaging has also recently attracted interest for spinal surgery, because it could be useful for avoiding pedicle breaches and for choosing an appropriate starting point before drilling or pedicle probe insertion. This review describes the current instruments and clinical applications of photoacoustic imaging. Its primary objective is to provide a comprehensive overview of photoacoustic IGS in spinal surgery.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.158-165
• /
• 2017

The physical shape of an ultrasound transducer has not been considered in previous studies of the photoacoustic saturation effect, where a photoacoustic signal's magnitude linearly increases as an absorption coefficient increases and it is finally saturated. In this paper, the effect of a spherically focused ultrasound transducer on photoacoustic nonlinearity is investigated. The focused ultrasound transducer's spatial filtering effect on photoacoustic signals is analytically derived considering the combined concept of a virtual point detector and Green function approach. The ultrasound transducer's temporal response (i.e., transfer function) effect on photoacoustic signals is considered by integrating photoacoustic signal values within the absorption area covered by a spatial resolution of the ultrasound transducer. Results from the analytically derived expression show that the magnitude of photoacoustic signals measured by a spherical focused ultrasound transducer shows a maximum at a specific absorption coefficient, and decreases after that maximum point as an absorption coefficient is increased. The origin of this photoacoustic nonlinearity is physically understood by comparing the ultrasound transducer's transfer functions and photoacoustic resonance spectra. In addition, this physical interpretation implies that the photoacoustic nonlinearity is strongly dependent on the irradiance distribution inside an absorption medium.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.111-118
• /
• 2003

Recently, environmental damage to urban area becomes serious problem due to the exhaust emissions by increasing the number of vehicle. Especially, exhaust emission from diesel vehicles are blown to be harmful to human health and environment. Photoacoustic Spectroscopy system is very useful technology for simultaneous and continuous measurement of the various components of the automotive exhaust gas. In this study, in order to reduce emission gases from automobile, we tried to develop the measurement system of Photoacoustic Spectroscopy. To improve performance of high sensitive Photoacoustic Spectroscopy system for automotive exhaust emissions, the shape of Photoacoustic Spectroscopy cell was optimized to use the flow analysis. And Exhaust emission data of the 1,500cc gasoline engine was fixed the working fluid. The characteristics of fluid flow for cell were analyzed by various conditions in detail.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.83-89
• /
• 2010

Purpose: The goal of this study was to investigate the feasibility for the early diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis by the reconstruction of three-dimensional photoacoustic imaging with a tissue phantom. Methods: Q-switched Nd:YAG laser (l = 532 nm) was applied to a tissue phantom to generate photoacoustic waves, and the acquired photoacoustic signals at different positions around the sample were used to recombine the distribution of the optical absorption and the images were subsequently generated through a reconstruction algorithm. Results: From the acquired photoacoustic signals, the surface andinner core of the phantom was clearly distinguished. Furthermore, the back-projection algorithm was able to reconstruct two-dimensional and three-dimensional photoacoustic images that contained the optical absorption property information of the tissue phantom. Conclusion: The results indicate that the photoacoustic imaging technique has many advantages such as high optical contrast and high acoustic resolution. The acquired images can be used for the early diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis by the structural information obtained from the region of interest.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.151-155
• /
• 2014

Although various ophthalmic imaging methods, including fundus photography and optical coherence tomography, have been applied for effective diagnosis of ocular diseases with high spatial resolution, most of them are limited by shallow imaging penetration depth and a narrow field of view. Also, many of those imaging modalities are optimized to provide microscopic anatomical information, while functional or cellular information is lacking. Compared to other ocular imaging modalities, photoacoustic imaging can achieve relatively deep penetration depth and provide more detailed functional and cellular data based on photoacoustic signal generation from endogenous contrast agents such as hemoglobin and melanin. In this paper, array-based ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging was demonstrated to visualize pigmentation in the eye as well as overall ocular structure. Fresh porcine eyes were visualized using a real-time ultrasound micro-imaging system and an imaging probe supporting laser pulse delivery. In addition, limited photoacoustic imaging field of view was improved by an imaging probe tilting method, enabling visualization of most regions of the retina covered in the ultrasound imaging.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.48-58
• /
• 2019

We investigate the signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of time-domain (i.e. pulsed illumination) and frequency-domain (i.e. chirped illumination) photoacoustic signals measured by a spherically focused ultrasound transducer for spherical absorbers. The simulation results show that the time-domain photoacoustic SNR is higher than that of frequency-domain photoacoustic signals, as reported in the previous literature. We understand the reason for this SNR gap between the two measurement modes by analyzing photoacoustic-signal spectra, considering the incident beam energy controlled by the maximum permissible exposure. As the result of this approach, we find that filtering off the DC term in the chirped signal's spectrum improves frequency-domain photoacoustic SNRs by up to approximately 5 dB. In particular, it is observed that photoacoustic SNRs are highly sensitive to an upper-frequency value of frequency filtering functions, and the optimal upper-frequency values maximizing the SNR are different in time- and frequency-domain photoacoustic measurements.

• Proceedings of the Acoustical Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 1984.12a
• /
• pp.33-35
• /
• 1984

A new type single beam photoacoustic spectrometer suitable for measuring optical absorption of condensed powder matter with the automatic calibration capability of a source power spectrum is introduced. The signal processing until of this spectrometer consists of a photoacoustic cell a lock-in amp., a switching circuit and a personal computer. The measured optical absorption spectra of a few material by this method are good agreement with the results obtained by the double-beam photoacoustic spectrometer.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.61 no.4
• /
• pp.139-142
• /
• 2017

Ethene ($C_2H_4$), which is produced in plants as they mature, was used to study its photoacoustic properties using photoacoustic spectroscopy. Detection of trace amounts, with $N_2$ gas, of $C_2H_4$ gas was also applied. The gas was tested in various conditions-temperature, concentration of the gas, gas cell length, and power of the laser- to determine their effect on the photoacoustic signal, the ideal conditions to detect trace gas amounts, and concentration of $C_2H_4$ produced by an avocado and a banana. A detection limit of 10 ppm was determined for pure $C_2H_4$. A detection of 5% and 13% (by volume) concentration of $C_2H_4$ was produced for a ripening avocado and banana, respectively, in closed space.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
• /
• v.13 no.6
• /
• pp.24-30
• /
• 1994

In this paper, the system for detection of photoacoustic signal has been constructed by using CW $CO_{2}$ laser for an analysis of the photoacoustic signal In metals and aluminum carbon steel, brass have been used as sample. The photoacoustic signals of several nano amperes have been detected in each sample with varying modulation frequency of laser, time constant of lock-in amplifier, thickness of sample. The characteristics of photoacoustic signal has been analysed in term of phase angle by using signal processing technique. Results indicate that the photoacoustic signal can be stabilized by adjustment of time constant of lock-in amplifier, that the signal amplitude is proportional to the ratio of thermal expansion coefficient to thermal capacity of metal, and that the signal amplitude decreases exponentially with sample thickness as well as with modulation frequency.