Dynamic beamforming for large area scan in array-based photoacoustic microscopy

Abstract

We explore the use of a beamforming method intended for large-area scanning in optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy. It has been evaluated in a experimental setup that comprises a low-cost laser diode and a phase array with a 128-elements linear probe. Three different beamforming strategies are discussed: no-beamforming, static beamforming and dynamic beamforming. The method has been tested in gelatine-based phantoms as well as ex-vivo organs. Results show that, compared with the other two, dynamic beamforming increases up to 15 dB and homogenizes signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) along images of roughly 1 cm2. The method and system presented here could be the baseline for more advanced array-based systems that leverage the low-cost laser sources for clinical applications.

@inproceedings{CebrecosIEEE2020,
 author = {Alejandro Cebrecos and Juan José García-Garrigos and Andreu Descals and Noé Jiménez and José María Benlloch and Francisco Camarena},
 booktitle = {IUS 2020: IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium. Las Vegas, USA. 7-11 September},
 doi = {https://doi.org/10.1109/IUS46767.2020.9251519},
 editor = {2020 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS)},
 isbn = {ISBN: 978-84-87985-30-4},
 month = {9},
 organization = {Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers},
 pages = {1-4},
 publisher = {IEEE},
 series = {Poster},
 title = {Dynamic beamforming for large area scan in array-based photoacoustic microscopy},
 url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9251519},
 year = {2020}
}