Photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) is dominantly sensitive to the endogenous optical absorption compared with the confocal microscopy which images with scattering photons. PAM has similar structure such as optical transportation system, the optical scanning, and light source with the laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM). In order to match the PAM with LSCM, a special design microcavity photoacoustic (PA) transducer with high sensitivity is developed to detect the photoacoustic signals induced by modulated continuous wave (CW) laser. By employing a microcavity PA transducer, a PAM can be integrated with LSCM. Thus a simultaneous multimodal imaging can be obtained with the same laser source and optical system. The lateral resolutions of the PAM and the LSCM are both tested to be better than 1.25 μm. Then subcellular multimodal imaging can be achieved. Images from the two modes are corresponding with each other but functionally complementary. Combining PAM and LSCM provides more comprehensive information for the cytological test. This technique is demonstrated for imaging red-blood cells and meristematic cells.

The theory of photoacoustic tomography (PAT) imaging using a 4f acoustic lens imaging system has been investigated, and the theoretical results show that a 4f acoustic lens has the ability of imaging and guarantees axial and lateral unit magnification of image. A system, a 4f acoustic lens imaging system combining with time-resolved technique, is developed to acquire PAT images. The 4f acoustic lens is able to image initial photoacoustic (PA) pressure distribution, which exactly resembles the absorption distribution, onto an imaging plane. Combining with time-resolved technique, the linear transducer array is adopted to acquire the PA pressure distribution to reconstruct the PAT images. Experimental results demonstrate that the system is able to obtain PAT images and the images contrast sharply with their backgrounds.

We developed a cross-correlation photothermal optical coherence tomography (CC-PTOCT) system for photothermal imaging with high lateral and axial resolution. The CC-PTOCT system consists of a phase-sensitive OCT system, a modulated pumping laser, and a digital cross-correlator. The pumping laser was used to induce the photothermal effect in the sample, causing a slight phase modulation of the OCT signals. A spatial phase differentiation method was employed to reduce phase accumulation. The noise brought by the phase differentiation method and the strong background noise were suppressed efficiently by the cross-correlator, which was utilized to extract the photothermal signals from the modulated signals. Combining the cross-correlation technique with spatial phase differentiation can improve both lateral and axial resolution of the PTOCT imaging system. Clear photothermal images of blood capillaries of a mouse ear in vivo were successfully obtained with high lateral and axial resolution. The experimental results demonstrated that this system can enhance the effective transverse resolution, effective depth resolution, and contrast of the PTOCT image effectively, aiding the ongoing development of the accurate 3D functional imaging.

Traditional underwater polarization imaging methods can only provide clear degree of polarization (DOP) and intensity images of the object but cannot provide images of the polarization state of the object. This paper proposes a method to extract clear object information from turbid water in all four Stokes parameter (I, Q, U, and V) channels by using the full Stokes camera, enabling clear polarization state image reconstruction. The method utilizes multiple images from different angles to construct a low-rank and sparse matrix. Then, by decomposing this matrix into sparse and low-rank components, clear Q, U, and V images (i.e., the full polarization state) can be obtained. Unlike traditional methods that assume the circularly polarized component (V component) to be zero, this method retains V channel information, allowing for circular polarization component measurement. The study successfully reconstructed clear underwater images of samples with inhomogeneous DOP distribution and obtained the clear polarization states of polarizers and fish in the turbid water. The results show that the proposed method can visualize and analyze the object’s polarization state quantitatively with high accuracy in turbid water for the first time, potentially extending the applicability of polarization underwater imaging in ocean exploration.

In this paper we present a new high-contrast photoacoustic tomography (PAT) imaging system using a 4f acoustic lens, a 64-element linear transducer array and peak-hold technology. This PAT imaging system has been developed to obtain three-dimensional (3D) PAT images of experimental samples. By utilizing a 4f acoustic lens, the photoacoustic (PA) signals generated from the sample are directly imaged on the imaging plane and collected by the 64-element linear transducer array, which changes them into the corresponding electronic signals. Then we can get one-dimensional (1D) images from the electronic signals using a peak detection-and-hold circuit. After vertical scanning with a stepping motor on the imaging plane, a 2D PA image of the sample is successfully obtained. Combined with the time-resolved technique, we can then get 3D PAT images. The results show that the reconstructed images agree well with the original samples.