Ultraviolet attenuation–absorption microscopy with an opto-acoustic confocal dual-sensitive sensor and its application in pathological diagnosis

Pathological analysis is essential for cancer diagnosis and treatment. However, the current gold standard based on hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining is time-consuming and requires exogenous labels. This study presents an ultraviolet attenuation–absorption dual-mode photoacoustic microscopy system for label-free imaging of histological sections. Enabled by the carbon nanotubes-polydimethylsiloxane film, the opto-acoustic dual-sensitive sensor simultaneously detects optical and acoustic signals, and its opto-acoustic confocal design improves the peak amplitude by 24 dB compared to the planar structure. Between the two imaging modes, the UV absorption image reveals cell nuclei, providing virtual hematoxylin staining contrast, whereas the UV attenuation image highlights tissue structures, achieving virtual eosin staining contrast. In the imaging of pathological sections of human oral cancer tissue, the hybrid images reveal critical pathological features, such as nuclear size and the tumor invasive front, similar to those observed in H&E-stained sections, supporting the proof-of-concept validation of this technique for rapid intraoperative pathological analysis.