"Photoacoustic Tomography: Ultrasonically Breaking through the Optical Diffusion Limit"

Lihong V. Wang, PhD
Gene K. Beare Distinguished Professor
Optical Imaging Laboratory
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Washington University in St. Louis

Photoacoustic tomography (PAT), combining optical and ultrasonic waves via the photoacoustic effect, provides in vivo multi-scale non-ionizing functional and molecular imaging. PAT is the only modality capable of imaging across the length scales of organelles, cells, tissues, and organs with consistent contrast. Such a technology has the potential to empower multi-scale systems biology and accelerate translation from microscopic laboratory discoveries to macroscopic clinical practice. PAT may also hold the key to the earliest detection of cancer by in vivo label-free quantification of hyper-metabolism, the quintessential hallmark of cancer.