Pushing the Limits of Photoacoustic Imaging

Pushing the Limits of Photoacoustic Imaging

Photoacoustic imaging allows researchers to peer deeply into the tissue of living animals in real time. It involves sending high-frequency pulses of light into tissue and detecting the resulting ultrasonic signals to create two- and three-dimensional images. Photoacoustic imaging has been used to measure blood-oxygen levels in tissues, monitor the growth of tumors and metastases, and for functional brain imaging.

Vladislav Verkhusha, Ph.D., has received a $1 million, 2.5-year grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to support his research to develop a comprehensive set of photoacoustic tools and techniques to achieve cellular level resolution at tissue depths of several centimeters. These tools and approaches include genetic near-infrared photochromic photoacoustic probes, acoustic-tunnel enhanced light delivery, and differential photoacoustic imaging.

If this initial phase is successful, the researchers will receive an additional $10 million in funding to further advance and commercialize their work. Dr. Verkhusha is professor of anatomy and structural biology and the Gruss-Lipper Biophotonics Center at Einstein.