Photoacoustic tomography (PAT), or optoacoustic tomography, has achieved remarkable progress in the past decade, benefiting from the joint developments in optics, acoustics, chemistry, computing and mathematics. Unlike pure optical or ultrasound imaging, PAT can provide unique optical absorption contrast as well as widely scalable spatial resolution, penetration depth and imaging speed. Moreover, PAT has inherent sensitivity to tissue's functional, molecular, and metabolic state. With these merits, PAT has been applied in a wide range of life science disciplines, and has enabled biomedical research unattainable by other imaging methods. This Review article aims at introducing state-of-the-art PAT technologies and their representative applications. The focus is on recent technological breakthroughs in structural, functional, molecular PAT, including super-resolution imaging, real-time small-animal whole-body imaging, and high-sensitivity functional/molecular imaging. We also discuss the remaining challenges in PAT and envisioned opportunities.

中文翻译：

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用新光聆听组织：光声成像的最新技术进展


光声断层扫描（PAT），即光声断层扫描，在过去十年中取得了显着的进步，受益于光学、声学、化学、计算和数学的共同发展。与纯光学或超声成像不同，PAT 可以提供独特的光学吸收对比度以及可广泛扩展的空间分辨率、穿透深度和成像速度。此外，PAT 对组织的功能、分子和代谢状态具有固有的敏感性。凭借这些优点，PAT已广泛应用于生命科学学科，并实现了其他成像方法无法实现的生物医学研究。本文旨在介绍最先进的 PAT 技术及其代表性应用。重点关注结构、功能、分子PAT的最新技术突破，包括超分辨率成像、实时小动物全身成像、高灵敏度功能/分子成像。我们还讨论了 PAT 中剩余的挑战和设想的机遇。