Photoacoustic and thermoacoustic imaging application in joint imaging

This paper presents preliminary in vitro experimental studies in imaging of the same joint using laser-based photoacoustic imaging and microwave-based thermoacoustic imaging. In this pilot study, the experiments were conducted on the same chicken claw joint in vitro, and a delay-and-sum algorithm was used to reconstruct the two-dimensional (2D) photoacoustic and thermoacoustic images. In the future, integrating the two imaging modalities into a system, which combines the merits of two imaging modalities, has potential to provide an effective approach of tissue structure and functional images to study the architectures, physiological and pathological properties and metabolisms of joint tissues.