Generally applicable and experimentally validated hybrid models and inversion schemes for quantitative photoacoustic tomography

• Applicant: Professor Jan Laufer, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Medical Physics, Biomedical Technology ; Bioinformatics and Theoretical Biology ; Medical Informatics and Medical Bioinformatics
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 451574916

Biomedical photoacoustic (PA) tomography is based on the generation of ultrasound in the tissue via the absorption of intensity-modulated light. Due to the dominant absorption of haemoglobin in the visible and near-infrared wavelength range, it provides high-resolution 3D images of the vasculature in soft tissue. It is also sensitive to exogenous and genetically expressed contrast agents. A major potential of this technology lies in the ability to recover 3D high resolution images of absolute chromophore concentrations (e.g. oxy- and deoxyhaemoglobin, contrast agents) as well as derived functional parameters, such as blood oxygen saturation. The development of methods for quantitative PA tomography is of crucial importance for the translation of this technology to routine applications in functional and molecular imaging. In this project, comprehensive forward models will be developed to predict multispectral PA images that closely agree with those acquired using different tomographic PA scanner platforms. The models will be used in adjoint form in new inversion algorithms, which will be experimentally validated on images of tissue phantoms acquired using novel experimental methods. The limitations of the new methods will be evaluated in silico. It is envisaged that the models developed in this project will enable true quantitative PA tomography using both model-based and data-driven inversions. The successful development of these models and methods will provide a basis for rapid translation of functional and molecular PA imaging to applications in biology, the life sciences and medicine.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants