Photoacoustic Mouse Brain Imaging Using an Optical Fabry-Pérot Interferometric Ultrasound Sensor

• DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.672788
• Publication Date: 2021-05-17T05:29:45Z
• Authors: Yuwen Chen; Buhua Chen; Tengfei Yu; Lu Yin; Mingjian Sun; Wen He; Cheng Ma
• Keywords: Fabry-Pérot interferometer; multiwavelength imaging; 0303 health sciences; 03 medical and health sciences; photoacoustic; brain imaging; Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry; mesoscopy; RC321-571; Neuroscience; 3. Good health

Photoacoustic (PA, or optoacoustic, OA) mesoscopy is a powerful tool for mouse cerebral imaging, which offers high resolution three-dimensional (3D) images with optical absorption contrast inside the optically turbid brain. The image quality of a PA mesoscope relies on the ultrasonic transducer which detects the PA signals. An all-optical ultrasound sensor based on a Fabry-Pérot (FP) polymer cavity has the following advantages: broadband frequency response, wide angular coverage and small footprint. Here, we present 3D PA mesoscope for mouse brain imaging using such an optical sensor. A heating laser was used to stabilize the sensor’s cavity length during the imaging process. To acquire data for a 3D angiogram of the mouse brain, the sensor was mounted on a translation stage and raster scanned. 3D images of the mouse brain vasculature were reconstructed which showed cerebrovascular structure up to a depth of 8 mm with high quality. Imaging segmentation and dual wavelength imaging were performed to demonstrate the potential of the system in preclinical brain research.