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Photoacoustic (PA) imaging has the ability to visualize the distribution of hemoglobin clearly. Thus, there is the potential to acquire different maps of small vessel networks between cancerous and normal tissue. We developed an original TRUS-type PA probe consisting of a microconvex array transducer with an optical illumination system providing coregistered PA and ultrasound images. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the clinical possibility of a transrectral PA image.
The prostate biopsy cores obtained by transrectal systemic biopsies under TRUS guidance were stained with HE staining and anti-CD34 antibodies as a marker of the endothelium of the blood vessel in order to find a pattern in the map of a small vessel network, which allows for imaging-based identification of prostate cancer. We analyzed the association of PA signal patterns, the cancer location by a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study, and the pathological diagnosis with CD34 stains as a prospective intervention study.
In order to demonstrate the TRUS-merged-with-PA imaging guided targeted biopsy combined with a standard biopsy for capturing the clinically significant tumors, we developed a puncture needle guide attachment for the original TRUS-type PA probe.
Materials and Methods: We developed two types of handheld PAI probes: a linear PAI probe combining a conventional linear-array US probe with optical illumination and a transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS)-type PAI probe. We performed experiments with Japanese white rabbits and conducted clinical research trials of urology and vascular medicine with the approval of the medical human ethics committee of the National Defense Medical College.
Results: We successfully acquired high-dynamic-range images of the vascular network ranging from capillaries to landmark arteries and identified the femoral vein, deep femoral vein, and great saphenous vein of rabbits. These major vessels in the rabbits groin are surrounded with microvessels connected to each other. Periprostatic microvessels were monitored during radical prostatectomy for localized prostate cancer and they were colocalized with nerve fibers, and their distribution was consistent with the corresponding PAI. The TRUS-type PAI probe clearly demonstrated the location and extent of the neurovascular bundle (NVB) better than does TRUS alone.
Conclusions: The system, which can obtain a PAI, a US image, and a merged image, was innovatively designed so that medical doctors can easily find the location without any prior knowledge or extended skills to analyze the obtained images. Our pilot feasibility study confirms that PAI could be an imaging modality useful in the screening study and diagnostic biopsy.
Effect of the illumination method on photo-acoustic image quality with array transducer based system
Correlation between light scattering signal and tissue reversibility in rat brain exposed to hypoxia
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