Presently, clinicians routinely apply ultrasound endoscopy in a variety of interventional procedures which provide treatment solutions for diseased organs. Ultrasound endoscopy not only produces high resolution images, it is also safe for clinical use and broadly applicable. However, for soft tissue imaging, its mechanical wave-based image contrast fundamentally limits its ability to provide physiologically-specific functional information. By contrast, photoacoustic endoscopy possesses a unique combination of functional optical contrast and high spatial resolution at clinically-relevant depths, ideal for soft tissue imaging. With these attributes, photoacoustic endoscopy can overcome the current limitations of ultrasound endoscopy. Moreover, the benefits of photoacoustic imaging do not come at the expense of existing ultrasound functions; photoacoustic endoscopy systems are inherently compatible with ultrasound imaging, enabling multi-modality imaging with complementary contrast. Here, we present simultaneous photoacoustic and ultrasonic dual-mode endoscopy and demonstrate its ability to image internal organs in vivo, illustrating its potential clinical application.

Many natural structures out-perform the conventional synthetic counterparts due to the specially evolved reinforcement architectures. Here we report an electrically assisted additive manufacturing approach that bio-mimic the Bouligand structure in natural creatures to create highly impact resistant architectures. The alignment of surface modified Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNT-S) was controlled by rotating electric field during printing. Besides, the composite shows anisotropic mechanical properties with the highest tensile modulus parallel to the alignment, 6 times higher than the modulus in perpendicular direction. The Bouligand-type MWCNT-S with controllable rotating angle leads to 3 times enhanced impact resistance compared with random distribution due to the energy dissipation by the rotating anisotropic layers. This enables us to create complex This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. bioinspired reinforcement architectures possessing enhanced performance. Furthermore, this approach is used to mimic the Collagen fiber alignment in human meniscus to create reinforced artificial meniscus with circumferential and radial aligned MWCNT-S. The printed meniscus shows enhanced tensile modulus and fracture energy compared with native menisci, which shows a potential application as a replica for tissue constructs to circumvent meniscus tear. The electrically assisted three-dimensional (3D) printing technology enables us to design and evolve reinforced architectures with arbitrary geometries, which shows promising applications in aerospace, armor, mechanical and tissue engineering.

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Abstract:We have created a 2.5-mm outer diameter integrated photoacoustic and ultrasonic mini-probe which can be inserted into a standard video endoscope's instrument channel. A small-diameter focused ultrasonic transducer made of PMN-PT provides adequate signal sensitivity, and enables miniaturization of the probe. Additionally, this new endoscopic probe utilizes the same scanning mirror and micromotor-based built-in actuator described in our previous reports; however, the length of the rigid distal section of the new probe has been further reduced to ~35 mm. This paper describes the technical details of the mini-probe and presents experimental results that both quantify the imaging performance and demonstrate its in vivo imaging capability, which suggests that it could work as a mini-probe for certain clinical applications. dual-modality OCT/LIF imaging using a novel VEGF receptor-targeted NIR fluorescent probe in the AOMtreated mouse model," Mol.