Pulsed laser diode excitation for transcranial photoacoustic imaging

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Cherkashin, Maxim N., Laufer, Jan, Kirchner, Thomas
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Cherkashin, Maxim N.
Laufer, Jan
Kirchner, Thomas
author_facet Cherkashin, Maxim N.
Laufer, Jan
Kirchner, Thomas
contents Photoacoustic (PA) imaging of deep tissue tends to employ Q-switched lasers with high pulse energy to generate high optical fluence and therefore high PA signal. Compared to Q-switched lasers, pulsed laser diodes (PLDs) typically generate low pulse energy. In PA imaging applications with strong acoustic attenuation, such as through human skull bone, the broadband PA waves generated by nanoseconds laser pulses are significantly reduced in bandwidth during their propagation to a detector. As high-frequency PA signal components are not transmitted through skull, we propose to not generate them by increasing excitation pulse duration. Because PLDs are mainly limited in their peak power output, an increase in pulse duration linearly increases pulse energy and therefore PA signal amplitude. Here we show that the optimal pulse duration for deep PA sensing through thick skull bone is far higher than in typical PA applications. Counterintuitively, this makes PLD excitation well-suited for transcranial photoacoustics. We show this in PA sensing experiments on ex vivo human skull bone.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_09505
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Pulsed laser diode excitation for transcranial photoacoustic imaging
Cherkashin, Maxim N.
Laufer, Jan
Kirchner, Thomas
Medical Physics
Photoacoustic (PA) imaging of deep tissue tends to employ Q-switched lasers with high pulse energy to generate high optical fluence and therefore high PA signal. Compared to Q-switched lasers, pulsed laser diodes (PLDs) typically generate low pulse energy. In PA imaging applications with strong acoustic attenuation, such as through human skull bone, the broadband PA waves generated by nanoseconds laser pulses are significantly reduced in bandwidth during their propagation to a detector. As high-frequency PA signal components are not transmitted through skull, we propose to not generate them by increasing excitation pulse duration. Because PLDs are mainly limited in their peak power output, an increase in pulse duration linearly increases pulse energy and therefore PA signal amplitude. Here we show that the optimal pulse duration for deep PA sensing through thick skull bone is far higher than in typical PA applications. Counterintuitively, this makes PLD excitation well-suited for transcranial photoacoustics. We show this in PA sensing experiments on ex vivo human skull bone.
title Pulsed laser diode excitation for transcranial photoacoustic imaging
topic Medical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.09505