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High-frequency annular array with coaxial illumination for dual-modality ultrasonic and photoacoustic imaging.

ABSTRACT: This paper presents a combined ultrasound and photoacoustic (PA) imaging (PAI) system used to obtain high-quality, co-registered images of mouse-embryo anatomy and vasculature. High-frequency ultrasound (HFU, >20 MHz) is utilized to obtain high-resolution anatomical images of small animals while PAI provides high-contrast images of the vascular network. The imaging system is based on a 40 MHz, 5-element, 6 mm aperture annular-array transducer with a 800 μm diameter hole through its central element. The transducer was integrated in a cage-plate assembly allowing for a collimated laser beam to pass through the hole so that the optical and acoustic beams were collinear. The assembly was mounted on a two-axis, motorized stage to enable the simultaneous acquisition of co-registered HFU and PA volumetric data. Data were collected from all five elements in receive and a synthetic-focusing algorithm was applied in post-processing to beamform the data and increase the spatial resolution and depth-of-field (DOF) of the HFU and PA images. Phantom measurements showed that the system could achieve high-resolution images (down to 90 μm for HFU and 150 μm for PAI) and a large DOF of >8 mm. Volume renderings of a mouse embryo showed that the scanner allowed for visualizing morphologically precise anatomy of the entire embryo along with corresponding co-registered vasculature. Major head vessels, such as the superior sagittal sinus or rostral vein, were clearly identified as well as limb bud vasculature.

SUBMITTER: Filoux E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3676372 | biostudies-other | 2013 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:BackgroundSevere environmental pollution and contaminants left in the environment due to the abuse of chemicals, such as methylmercury, are associated with an increasing number of embryonic disorders. Ultrasound imaging has been widely used to investigate embryonic development malformation and dysorganoplasia in both research and clinics. However, this technique is limited by its low contrast and lacking functional parameters such as the ability to measure blood oxygen saturation (SaO2) and hemoglobin content (HbT) in tissues, measures that could be early vital indicators for embryonic development abnormality. Herein, we proposed combining two highly complementary techniques into a photoacoustic-ultrasound (PA-US) dual-modality imaging approach to noninvasively detect early mouse embryo abnormalities caused by methylmercury chloride (MMC) in real time.ObjectivesThis study aimed to assess the use of PA-US dual-modality imaging for noninvasive detection of embryonic toxicity at different stages of growth following prenatal MMC exposure. Additionally, we compared the PA-US imagining results to traditional histological methods to determine whether this noninvasive method could detect early developmental defects in utero.MethodsDifferent dosages of MMC were administrated to pregnant mice by gavage to establish models of different levels of embryonic malformation. Ultrasound, photoacoustic signal intensity (PSI), blood oxygen saturation (SaO2), and hemoglobin content (HbT) were quantified in all experimental groups. Furthermore, the embryos were sectioned and examined for pathological changes.ResultsUsing PA-US imaging, we detected differences in PSI, SaO2, HbT, and heart volume at embryonic day (E)14.5 and E11.5 for low and high dosages of MMC, respectively. More important, our results showed that differences between control and treated embryos identified by in utero PA-US imaging were consistent with those identified in ex vivo embryos using histological methods.ConclusionOur results suggest that noninvasive dual-modality PA-US is a promising strategy for detecting developmental toxicology in the uterus. Overall, this study presents a new approach for detecting embryonic toxicities, which could be crucial in clinics when diagnosing aberrant embryonic development. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP8907.

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High-frequency annular array with coaxial illumination for dual-modality ultrasonic and photoacoustic imaging.

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