Review on practical photoacoustic microscopy

Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) has many interesting advantages, such as deep imaging depth, high image resolution, and high contrast to intrinsic and extrinsic chromophores, enabling morphological, functional, and molecular imaging of living subjects. Photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) is one form of the PAI inheriting its characteristics and is useful in both preclinical and clinical research. Over the years, PAM systems have been evolved in several forms and each form has its relative advantages and disadvantages. Thus, to maximize the benefits of PAM for a specific application, it is important to configure the PAM system optimally by targeting a specific application. In this review, we provide practical methods for implementing a PAM system to improve the resolution, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and imaging speed. In addition, we review the preclinical and the clinical applications of PAM and discuss the current challenges and the scope for future developments.