Method and system for 3-D acoustic microscopy using short pulse excitation and 3-D acoustic microscope for use therein
First Claim
1. A method for examining an object internally, the method comprising the steps of:
- positioning an opto-acoustic transducer having a reflecting surface and an absorbing layer capable of converting a burst of electromagnetic energy into a thermal pulse relative to the object so that the thermal pulse propagates as an acoustic wave in the object and is internally reflected within the object;
scanning a plurality of bursts of the electromagnetic energy over a surface of the absorbing layer to obtain acoustic waves in the object;
detecting acoustic waves reflected within the object at a plurality of positions on the reflecting surface of the opto-acoustic transducer to generate resultant signals;
calculating a 3-D representation of the object from the resultant signals; and
displaying the 3-D representation as an image.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system are provided for 3-D acoustic microscopy using short pulse laser excitation. A 3-D acoustic microscope for use in such a system is also provided. In a first embodiment, wherein optical detection is utilized, a focused excitation beam is scanned by a first acoustooptic scanning device across an absorbing layer of an opto-acoustic transducer (if needed) coupled to an object under investigation to create spherical ultrasonic waves within the object which may be living tissue. The reflected spherical ultrasonic waves are detected through the use of an unfocused probe beam and an optical detector array or a focused probe beam and a single photodetector which receive the probe beam from a reflecting surface of the opto-acoustic transducer. A second acoustooptic scanning device scans the probe beam at a plurality of positions on the reflecting surface of the opto-acoustic transducer. In another embodiment, an ultrasound transducer is utilized to acoustically detect the reflected spherical ultrasonic waves. Signals from the optical detector array, the photodetector, or the ultrasound transducer are subsequently digitized and reconstructed via 3-D synthetic aperture beam-forming equations to generate a 3-D representation of the object. Then the 3-D representation of the image is displayed as an image. The microscope includes the first and second acoustooptic scanning devices and the opto-acoustic transducer housed in a housing to define a needle probe such as a conventional biopsy needle.
123 Citations
58 Claims
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1. A method for examining an object internally, the method comprising the steps of:
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positioning an opto-acoustic transducer having a reflecting surface and an absorbing layer capable of converting a burst of electromagnetic energy into a thermal pulse relative to the object so that the thermal pulse propagates as an acoustic wave in the object and is internally reflected within the object; scanning a plurality of bursts of the electromagnetic energy over a surface of the absorbing layer to obtain acoustic waves in the object; detecting acoustic waves reflected within the object at a plurality of positions on the reflecting surface of the opto-acoustic transducer to generate resultant signals; calculating a 3-D representation of the object from the resultant signals; and displaying the 3-D representation as an image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for examining an object internally, the object being capable of converting a burst of electromagnetic energy into a thermal pulse which propagates as an acoustic wave in the object and is internally reflected within the object, the method comprising the steps of:
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scanning a plurality of bursts of the electromagnetic energy over a surface of the object to generate acoustic waves in the object; detecting the acoustic waves reflected within the object at a plurality of positions on the surface of the object to generate resultant signals; calculating a 3-D representation of the object from the resultant signals; and displaying the 3-D representation as an image. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A system for examining an object internally, the system comprising:
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an opto-acoustic transducer adapted to be acoustically coupled to the object and having a reflecting surface and an absorbing layer capable of converting a burst of electromagnetic energy into a thermal pulse so that the thermal pulse propagates as an acoustic wave in the object and is internally reflected within the object; an excitation beam scanner for scanning a plurality of bursts of the electromagnetic energy over a surface of the absorbing layer to obtain acoustic waves in the object; a detector for detecting the acoustic waves reflected within the object at a plurality of positions on the reflecting surface of the opto-acoustic transducer to generate resultant signals; a calculator for calculating a 3-D representation of the object from the resultant signals; and a display for displaying the 3-D representation as an image. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A system for examining an object internally, the object being capable of converting a burst of electromagnetic energy into a thermal pulse which propagates as an acoustic wave in the object and is internally reflected within the object, the system comprising:
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an excitation beam scanner for scanning a plurality of bursts of the electromagnetic energy over a surface of the object to generate acoustic waves in the object; a detector for detecting acoustic waves reflected within the object at a plurality of positions on the surface of the object to generate resultant signals; a calculator for calculating a 3-D representation of the object from the resultant signals; and a display for displaying the 3-D representation as an image. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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55. A 3-D acoustic microscope adapted to be used in a system for 3-D acoustic microscopy to examine an object internally, the microscope comprising:
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an opto-acoustic transducer adapted to be coupled to the object and including an optically reflecting surface and an absorbing layer capable of converting a burst of electromagnetic energy into a thermal pulse so that the thermal pulse propagates as an acoustic wave in the object and is internally reflected within the object; a first acoustooptic scanning device for scanning a plurality of bursts of the electromagnetic energy over a surface of the absorbing layer to generate acoustic waves in the object; a second acoustooptic scanning device for scanning a probe beam at a plurality of positions on the reflecting surface of the opto-acoustic transducer; and a housing for housing the opto-acoustic transducer and the first and second acoustooptic scanning devices to define an optical needle probe. - View Dependent Claims (56)
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57. A 3-D acoustic microscope adapted to be used in a system for 3-D acoustic microscopy to examine an object internally, the object being capable of converting a burst of electromagnetic energy into a thermal pulse so that the thermal pulse propagates as an acoustic wave in the object and is internally reflected within the object, the microscope comprising:
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a first acoustooptic scanning device for scanning a plurality of bursts of the electromagnetic energy over a surface of the object to generate acoustic waves in the object; a second acoustooptic scanning device for scanning a probe beam at a plurality of positions on the surface of the object; and a housing for housing the first and second acoustooptic scanning devices to define an optical needle probe. - View Dependent Claims (58)
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Specification