Fluorescence tomography in turbid media based on acousto-optic modulation imaging

The authors present a tomographic imaging technique of fluorescence in light-scattering media. Ultrasonic modulation of fluorescence based on the interaction between ultrasound and light is applied for imaging of a fluorescent material by scanning a focused sound field in which the light is modulated selectively. The on-axis sound-field characteristics that affect the light by modulating its amplitude (through variation of the refractive index and the scattering coefficient) were determined. That imaging technique is demonstrated using tissue phantoms that contain localized fluorescent regions in a dense scattering medium, suggesting the applicability of this technique for visualization of fluorescent probes in biological tissues. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.