Department of Electronic Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul 04107, Korea.
Department of Information and Communnication Engineering, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu 42988, Korea.
Sensors (Basel). 2021 Feb 9;21(4):1217. doi: 10.3390/s21041217.
A combined transrectal ultrasound and photoacoustic (TRUS-PA) imaging probe was developed for the clear visualization of morphological changes and microvasculature distribution in the prostate, as this is required for accurate diagnosis and biopsy. The probe consisted of a miniaturized 128-element 7 MHz convex array transducer with 134.5° field-of-view (FOV), a bifurcated optical fiber bundle, and two optical lenses. The design goal was to make the size of the TRUS-PA probe similar to that of general TRUS probes (i.e., about 20 mm), for the convenience of the patients. New flexible printed circuit board (FPCB), acoustic structure, and optical lens were developed to meet the requirement of the probe size, as well as to realize a high-performance TRUS-PA probe. In visual assessment, the PA signals obtained with the optical lens were 2.98 times higher than those without the lens. Moreover, the in vivo experiment with the xenograft BALB/c (Albino, Immunodeficient Inbred Strain) mouse model showed that TRUS-PA probe was able to acquire the entire PA image of the mouse tight behind the porcine intestine about 25 mm depth. From the ex vivo and in vivo experimental results, it can be concluded that the developed TRUS-PA probe is capable of improving PA image quality, even though the TRUS-PA probe has a cross-section size and an FOV comparable to those of general TRUS probes.
一种联合经直肠超声和光声（TRUS-PA）成像探头被开发出来，用于清晰地观察前列腺的形态变化和微血管分布，因为这是准确诊断和活检所必需的。该探头由一个小型化的 128 元件 7MHz 凸阵换能器、分叉光纤束和两个光学透镜组成。设计目标是使 TRUS-PA 探头的尺寸与普通 TRUS 探头（即约 20mm）相似，以方便患者。新的柔性印刷电路板（FPCB）、声学结构和光学透镜得到了开发，以满足探头尺寸的要求，并实现高性能的 TRUS-PA 探头。在视觉评估中，使用光学透镜获得的 PA 信号比没有透镜时高 2.98 倍。此外，在异种移植 BALB/c（白化、免疫缺陷近交系）小鼠模型的体内实验中，TRUS-PA 探头能够获取距猪肠约 25mm 深度的小鼠整个 PA 图像。从离体和体内实验结果可以得出结论，开发的 TRUS-PA 探头能够提高 PA 图像质量，即使 TRUS-PA 探头的横截面尺寸和 FOV 与普通 TRUS 探头相当。
