Scanning thermoacoustic tomography in biological tissue

Med Phys. 2000 May;27(5):1195-202. doi: 10.1118/1.598984.

Abstract

Microwave-induced thermoacoustic tomography was explored to image biological tissue. Short microwave pulses irradiated tissue to generate acoustic waves by thermoelastic expansion. The microwave-induced thermoacoustic waves were detected with a focused ultrasonic transducer. Each time-domain signal from the ultrasonic transducer represented a one-dimensional image along the acoustic axis of the ultrasonic transducer similar to an ultrasonic A-scan. Scanning the system perpendicularly to the acoustic axis of the ultrasonic transducer would generate multi-dimensional images. Two-dimensional tomographic images of biological tissue were obtained with 3-GHz microwaves. The axial and lateral resolutions were characterized. The time-domain piezo-electric signal from the ultrasonic transducer in response to the thermoacoustic signal was simulated theoretically, and the theoretical result agreed with the experimental result very well.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Acoustics
  • Biophysical Phenomena
  • Biophysics
  • Humans
  • Microwaves
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Temperature
  • Tomography / instrumentation
  • Tomography / methods*
  • Tomography / statistics & numerical data