The standard-of-care for evaluating lymph node status in breast cancers and melanoma metastasis is sentinel lymph node (SLN) assessment performed with a handheld gamma probe and radioisotopes. However, this method inevitably exposes patients and physicians to radiation, and the special facilities required limit its accessibility. Here, we demonstrate a non-ionizing, cost-effective, handheld photoacoustic finder (PAF) fully integrated with a solid-state dye laser and transparent ultrasound transducer (TUT). The solid-state dye laser handpiece is coaxially aligned with the spherically focused TUT. The integrated finder readily detected photoacoustic signals from a tube filled with methylene blue (MB) beneath a 22 mm thick layer of chicken tissue. In live animals, we also photoacoustically detected both SLNs injected with MB and subcutaneously injected melanomas. We believe that our radiation-free and inexpensive PAF can play a vital role in SLN assessment.

评估乳腺癌和黑色素瘤转移淋巴结状态的标准护理是使用手持式伽马探针和放射性同位素进行的前哨淋巴结 (SLN) 评估。然而，这种方法不可避免地使患者和医生暴露在辐射下，并且所需的特殊设施限制了其可及性。在这里，我们展示了一种与固态染料激光器和透明超声换能器 (TUT) 完全集成的非电离、经济高效的手持式光声探测器 (PAF)。固态染料激光机头与球面聚焦 TUT 同轴对齐。集成的探测器很容易检测到来自在 22 毫米厚的鸡组织层下充满亚甲蓝 (MB) 的管子的光声信号。在活体动物中，我们还光声检测到注射了 MB 的前哨淋巴结和皮下注射的黑色素瘤。我们相信我们的无辐射且价格低廉的 PAF 可以在 SLN 评估中发挥重要作用。