Toward Clinical Applications of Photoacoustic Imaging

Photoacoustic imaging (PAI), also referred to as optoacoustic imaging, is an emerging biomedical imaging technology that is noninvasive and nonionizing and has high sensitivity, satisfactory imaging depth, and good temporal and spatial resolution. Like conventional optical imaging, PAI presents the optical contrast that is highly sensitive to molecular conformation and biochemical contents of tissues and can aid in describing tissue metabolic and hemodynamic changes. Unlike conventional optical imaging, the spatial resolution of PAI is not limited by the strong light diffusion but instead is determined by the measurement of light-generated ultrasonic signals. As a result, the resolution of PAI is parallel to high-frequency ultrasonography.

At the University of Michigan School of Medicine, research conducted by Xueding Wang and colleagues has focused on development and clinical applications of PAI. Wang introduces efforts made toward clinical translation of this unique technology, including point-of-care imaging of inflammatory arthritis, imaging-guided needle biopsy of prostate cancer, diagnosis of Crohn's disease, and molecular and cellular imaging of eye diseases.

About the presenter
Xueding Wang, Ph.D., is a Professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, holding an adjunct Professor position at the Department of Radiology. Before working as an independent principal investigator, Wang received his Ph.D. from Dr. Lihong Wang's lab at the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M University, and then finished postdoctoral training at the University of Michigan School of Medicine. Wang has extensive experience in imaging system development and adaptation of novel diagnostic technology to laboratory research and clinical managements, especially those involving light and ultrasound. Sponsored by NIH, NSF, DoD and other funding agencies, his research has led to over 130 peer-reviewed publications. At the University of Michigan Medical School, a major part of his research is focused on clinical applications of photoacoustic imaging, including those involving arthritis, prostate cancer, breast cancer, Crohn's disease, neurological disorders, and eye diseases. Wang is the recipient of the Sontag Foundation Fellow of the Arthritis National Research Foundation in 2005, and the Distinguished Investigator Award of the Academy of Radiology Research in 2013. Wang is a fellow of AIMBE. He also sits on the editorial boards of scientific journals including Photoacoustics, Journal of Biomedical Optics, Medical Physics, and Ultrasonic Imaging, and being the steering committee member of the Journal of Lightwave Technology.