Optoacoustic systems for functional and molecular imaging in clinical and preclinical research

Optoacoustic imaging systems provide a unique opportunity to visualize, with high spatial resolution, the distribution of optical energy in opaque biological tissues and even to visualize the distribution of optically absorbing molecules in tissues. Since hemoglobin of blood is the main tissue chromophore that dominates optical absorption in the near-infrared spectral range, the optoacoustic imaging is well suitable for visualization of blood distributions associated with various diseases, such as cancer and atherosclerosis. Design of optoacoustic systems for two-dimensional and three-dimensional imaging and their applications in clinical and preclinical oncology will be presented.