Photoacoustic computed tomography correcting for heterogeneity and attenuation

We report an investigation of image reconstruction in photoacoustic tomography for objects that possess heterogeneous material and acoustic attenuation distributions. When the object contains materials, such as bone and soft-tissue, that are modeled using power law attenuation models with distinct exponents, we demonstrate that the effects of acoustic attenuation due to the most strongly attenuating material can be compensated for if the attenuation of the other less attenuating material(s) are neglected. Experiments with phantom objects are presented to validated our findings. (C) 2012 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). [DOI: 10.1117/1.JBO.17.6.061211]