Optoacoustic elastography for tissue biomechanical property characterization using a ring transducer

Elastography, capable of quantitatively providing the biomechanical properties of tissue, plays a key role in clinical diagnosis, such as cancerous tumor detection and atherosclerotic plaque characterization. Phase-resolved optical coherence elastography (PR-OCE) possesses superior resolution and high imaging speed with the capability of providing point-by-point elastogram mapping. An acoustic radiation force (ARF), generated by high-intensity ultrasound bursts, offers the dynamic excitations with the benefits of directly and remotely inducing the localized displacement of tissue within the region of interest. An amplitude modulated (AM) acoustic wave can be used to generate pressure to harmonically vibrate the tissue. In this work, we successfully differentiate biological tissues with different biomechanical properties utilizing a ring transducer with AM beam geometry in a PR-OCE system, which demonstrates the feasibility and superiority to move this imaging system into clinical application.