Speeding up Photoacoustic Imaging using Diffusion Models

Background: Photoacoustic Microscopy (PAM) integrates optical and acoustic imaging, offering enhanced penetration depth for detecting optical-absorbing components in tissues. Nonetheless, challenges arise in scanning large areas with high spatial resolution. With speed limitations imposed by laser pulse repetition rates, the potential role of computational methods is highlighted in accelerating PAM imaging. Purpose: We are proposing a novel and highly adaptable DiffPam algorithm that utilizes diffusion models for speeding up the photoacoustic imaging process. Method: We leveraged a diffusion model trained exclusively on natural images, comparing its performance with an in-domain trained U-Net model using a dataset focused on PAM images of mice brain microvasculature. Results: Our findings indicate that DiffPam achieves comparable performance to a dedicated U-Net model, without the need for a large dataset or training a deep learning model. The study also introduces the efficacy of shortened diffusion processes for reducing computing time without compromising accuracy. Conclusion: This study underscores the significance of DiffPam as a practical algorithm for reconstructing undersampled PAM images, particularly for researchers with limited AI expertise and computational resources.