In vivo intravascular photoacoustic imaging at a high speed of 100 frames per second

Abstract

Intravascular photoacoustic (IVPA) imaging technology enables the visualization of pathological characteristics (such as inflammation activities, lipid deposition) of the artery wall. Blood flushing is a necessary step in improving the imaging quality in in vivo IVPA imaging. But the limited imaging speed of the systems stretches their flushing time, which is an important obstacle of their clinical translations. In this paper, we report an improvement in IVPA/IVUS imaging speed to 100 frames per second. The high-speed imaging is demonstrated in rabbit in vivo, visualizing the nanoparticles accumulated on abdominal aorta wall at the wavelength of 1064 nm, in real time display. Blood flushing in vivo improves the IVPA signal-noise-ratio by around 3.5 dB. This study offers a stable, efficient and easy-to-use tool for instantaneous disease visualization and disease diagnosis in research and forwards IVPA/IVUS imaging technology towards clinical translations.

IVUS\IVPA hybrid intravascular molecular imaging of angiogenesis in atherosclerotic plaques via RGDfk peptide-targeted nanoprobes

“…During the data processing, the digitized photoacoustic and ultrasonic signals were processed by voltage conversion, digital filtering, envelop demodulation, and finally saved by a data acquisition card (ATS9325, Alazar, Canada). A time delay of 3 us is set between photoacoustic and ultrasound signals for distinguishing the two signals to obtain the IVPA/IVUS images simultaneously [ 38 ].

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Review on Laser Technology in Intravascular Imaging and Treatment

“…5C ) [ 94 ]. Recently, the IVPA system achieved the imaging speed as high as 100 frames per second based on the 0.9-mm catheter [ 100 ]. Lei et al achieved the IVPA system with the lateral resolution of 13 μm and the ultrafine imaging catheter with a diameter of 0.7 mm ( Fig.…”

Advanced Ultrasound and Photoacoustic Imaging in Cardiology

“…Wu et al developed a real-time IVPA/US imaging system capable of IVPA imaging of lipid-rich plaques in a swine model at 20 frames per second in vivo [ 9 ]. Later, Xie et al developed a new IVPA imaging system that can reach an imaging speed as fast as 100 frames per second and can imaging without blood flush [ 130 ]. All these results showcase the great potential of clinical translation of IVPA imaging to detect vulnerable plaques and therefore guide PCI.…”