Abstract:
Photoacoustic microscopy is an emerging
technology that holds great potential of delivering a non-invasive,
high contrast, label free biomedical imaging modality as well as
high sensitivity and specificity disease diagnostic technique.
However, despite significant progress having been reported in
refining the technique, its clinical uptake is slow. This can be
attributed to a number of factors which include; complex, bulky
and expensive instrumentation. It is therefore necessary to
address these drawbacks in order for the benefits of the
technique to be felt in the health care sector. This paper describes
a simple technique for detection of induced photoacoustic
pressure in tissue by monitoring modulation of scattered light in
tissue during photoacoustic excitation session. The technique can
be applied in diagnosis of blood related diseases such as malaria,
anemia and detection of circulating tumor cells.