Introduction to Photoacoustic (Optoacoustic) Imaging

Level: Introductory Length: 4 hours Format: In-Person Lecture Intended Audience: The course is intended for engineers and physicists with a background in optics or biomedical imaging. The course will be of value to anyone interested in using photoacoustic systems, interpreting their data, or developing their own systems. Description: This course provides an introduction into the field of photoacoustic (optoacoustic) imaging. The course begins with a short introduction to the physical underpinnings of photoacoustic imaging, namely light propagation in tissue and the photoacoustic effect. Although some mathematical analysis is provided, the focus of the introduction is to provide physical intuition on the effects involved in the generation of photoacoustic signals. The majority of the course will be dedicated to describing the experimental and theoretical tools involved in turning photoacoustic signals into images and discussing leading biomedical applications. This will include the common configurations of imaging systems, inversion algorithms, and interpretation of the resulting images. The course will additionally include a summary of practical considerations involved in designing photoacoustic systems and review available online resources. Learning Outcomes: This course will enable you to: - interpret photoacoustic images - conduct numerical simulations for the forward and inverse problems - weigh tradeoffs in the design of photoacoustic tomography systems - estimate the expected performance from photoacoustic imaging systems - develop photoacoustic imaging systems from off-the-shelf components Instructor(s): Amir Rosenthal is an Associate Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. He has been an active member of the photoacoustic research community for over 15 years and has contributed to the development of new algorithms and systems in the field. Event: SPIE Photonics West 2024 Course Held: 31 January 2024