Analysis of three-dimensional photoacoustic imaging of a vascular tree in vitro

We used photoacoustics in order to image a vasculature cast, which was obtained from a Wistar rat. The main objective was to investigate the imaging quality and the performance of the beamforming algorithm. For these purposes, the specimen was measured in several Intralipid(TM) 10% solutions and it was scanned with scanning steps of 100, 200, and 300 mum. The measurements were performed with a disk-shaped detector, with PVDF as an active material and four fibers for the light delivery. From the recorded signals, three-dimensional images of the cast were constructed. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.