All-optical dual photoacoustic and optical coherence tomography intravascular probe

Abstract

Intravascular imaging in percutaneous coronary interventions can be an invaluable tool in the treatment of coronary artery disease. It is of significant interest to provide molecular imaging contrast that is complementary to structural contrast provided by optical coherence tomography (OCT) and intravascular ultrasound imaging (IVUS). In this study, we developed a dual-modality intravascular imaging probe comprising a commercial OCT catheter and a high sensitivity fiber optic ultrasound sensor, to provide both photoacoustic (PA) and OCT imaging. With PA imaging, the lateral resolution varied from 18 μm to 40 μm; the axial resolution was consistently in the vicinity of 45 μm. We demonstrated the clinical potential of the probe with 2-D circumferential PA and OCT imaging, and with multispectral PA imaging.

Cardiovascular optoacoustics: From mice to men – A review

“…The same ultrasound transducer already widely used for IVUS in the clinic has been applied to simultaneous IVUS and IVPA imaging, simplifying the final catheter design and keeping it < 1 mm for intravascular imaging [141]. All-optical implementation of optoacoustic imaging provides a promising alternative to commonly used piezoelectric elements, allowing miniaturization while retaining high sensitivity; such all-optical systems can be combined with simultaneous OCT imaging [142]. The spatial resolution of such systems is less than 50 μm down to depths of approximately 2.5 mm, based on phantom studies.…”

Minimally invasive photoacoustic imaging: Current status and future perspectives

“…Recently, optical US detectors have been used in side-viewing PAE probes [[108], [109], [110], [111]]. In 2010, Hsieh et al [108] designed a PAE probe with a micro-ring resonator US detector attached onto the side wall of a light delivery optical fibre.…”

“…The PA excitation light was coupled into the inner cladding of the fibre and the output was reflected by a micro-prism attached to the distal end of the fibre to provide side-way illuminations, while the single-mode fibre core was used to deliver the interrogation light to the FP cavity and collect the reflectance for US detection. In 2018, Mathews et al [111] developed a dual-fibre probe for concurrent PAE and OCT, with a single-mode optical fibre for PA excitation light delivery and a fibre-optic FP sensor for US detection. The same single-mode optical fibre was used for performing OCT imaging.…”

“…OCT has been integrated into PAE probes to provide microstructural information of tissue [111,[113], [114], [115], [116]]. In 2011, Yang et al [114] developed a tri-modal PA-OCT-US probe by combining an IVUS probe with two optical fibres; one multimode fibre for delivering PA excitation light and one single-mode fibre for performing OCT imaging, respectively.…”

PMN-PT/Epoxy 1-3 composite based ultrasonic transducer for dual-modality photoacoustic and ultrasound endoscopy

“…A piezoelectric transducer or all-optical ultrasound (US) sensor can be used to detect these generated ultrasonic waves, or the PA signals. An all-optical US sensor, such as a Fabry-Pérot interferometer or microresonator, is able to provide wide detection bandwidth, resonance-free acoustic detection spectrum, and high resolution [[4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11]]. However, it still presents challenges for US detection.…”