基于常规成像系统的校准光声光谱仪用于造影剂的体外表征
Calibrated photoacoustic spectrometer based on a conventional imaging system for in vitro characterization of contrast agents
摘要：
光声成像系统在生物医学领域得到了广泛的应用，新型光声造影剂的研制是一个活跃的研究领域。然而，PA造影剂通常用分光光度法或未校准的PA成像系统表征，导致其PA效率的部分评估。为了使定量PA光谱的造影剂在体外与传统的PA成像系统，我们已经开发了一种适应的校准方法。将溶液中的造影剂注射到专用的非散射管体模中，在不同的光学波长下成像。该校准方法使用硫酸铜参比溶液，同时校正激发光在管位置处的光谱能量分布，并将图像中的管振幅从任意单位转换为光谱单位。该方法不需要任何精确的对齐，并提供定量PA光谱，即使在非均匀照明和超声灵敏度。它是在基于680 nm和980 nm之间工作的可调谐激光器和5 MHz临床超声阵列的传统成像装置上实现的。我们证明了稳健的校准PA光谱，样品体积低至15 μL的已知发色团和常用的造影剂。该方法通过改善PA造影剂的定量表征，将成为一种重要的、可获得的工具，用于开发新型、高效的PA造影剂。
英文摘要：
Photoacoustic (PA) imaging systems are spreading in the biomedical community, and the de-velopment of new PA contrast agents is an active area of research. However, PA contrast agents are usually characterized with spectrophotometry or uncalibrated PA imaging systems, leading to partial assessment of their PA efficiency. To enable quantitative PA spectroscopy of contrast agents in vitro with conventional PA imaging systems, we have developed an adapted calibration method. Contrast agents in solution are injected in a dedicated non-scattering tube phantom imaged at different optical wavelengths. The calibration method uses a reference solu-tion of cupric sulfate to simultaneously correct for the spectral energy distribution of excitation light at the tube location and perform a conversion of the tube amplitude in the image from ar-bitrary to spectroscopic units. The method does not require any precise alignment and provides quantitative PA spectra, even with non-uniform illumination and ultrasound sensitivity. It was implemented on a conventional imaging setup based on a tunable laser operating between 680 nm and 980 nm and a 5 MHz clinical ultrasound array. We demonstrated robust calibrated PA spectroscopy with sample volumes as low as 15 μL of known chromophores and commonly used contrast agents. The validated method will be an essential and accessible tool for the de-velopment of new and efficient PA contrast agents by improving their quantitative characterization.
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