Xu Jinhua, Lin Yixiao, Thakur Sanskar, Nie Haolin, Wang Lukai, Zhu Quing
Washington University in St. Louis, Department of Biomedical Engineering, St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
Washington University in St. Louis, Imaging Science Program, St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
J Biomed Opt. 2025 Jan;30(1):016006. doi: 10.1117/1.JBO.30.1.016006. Epub 2025 Jan 20.
Existing photoacoustic phantoms are unable to mimic complex microvascular structures with varying sizes and distributions. A suitable material with structures that mimic intricate microvascular networks is needed.
Our aim is to introduce loofah as a natural phantom material with complex fiber networks ranging from 50 to , enabling the fabrication of phantoms with controlled optical properties comparable to those of human microvasculature.
By introducing a controllable chromophore into the loofah material, we controlled its absorption properties. The loofah's vasculature-mimetic capabilities and stability in photoacoustic signal generation were evaluated using co-registered ultrasound, acoustic-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (ARPAM), and optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (ORPAM).
ORPAM results confirmed the loofah's ability to control chromophore distribution, leading to consistent and regulated photoacoustic signals. ARPAM results demonstrated that the loofah phantom effectively replicates vascular structures, exhibiting superior performance in mimicking microvascular networks compared with commonly used tissue-mimetic phantoms. The dominant diameter range of the phantom's microvasculature was between 100 and , aligning well with the targeted range and facilitating meaningful comparisons with human vascular structures.
The loofah material provides a low-cost and effective method for creating submillimeter microvascular phantoms for photoacoustic imaging. Its exceptional morphology and customizability allow it to be shaped into various vascular network configurations, enhancing the fidelity of phantom imaging and assisting in system calibration and validation. In addition, data obtained from this realistic microvascular phantom can offer greater opportunities for training machine learning models.
现有的光声体模无法模拟具有不同大小和分布的复杂微血管结构。需要一种具有能模拟复杂微血管网络结构的合适材料。
我们的目的是引入丝瓜作为一种具有50至 复杂纤维网络的天然体模材料，从而制造出具有与人体微血管相当的可控光学特性的体模。
通过将可控发色团引入丝瓜材料中，我们控制了其吸收特性。使用共配准超声、声学分辨率光声显微镜（ARPAM）和光学分辨率光声显微镜（ORPAM）评估了丝瓜模拟血管的能力以及光声信号产生中的稳定性。
ORPAM结果证实了丝瓜控制发色团分布的能力，从而产生一致且可调节的光声信号。ARPAM结果表明，丝瓜体模有效地复制了血管结构，与常用的仿组织体模相比，在模拟微血管网络方面表现出卓越性能。体模微血管的主要直径范围在100至 之间，与目标范围吻合良好，便于与人体血管结构进行有意义的比较。
丝瓜材料为制造用于光声成像的亚毫米级微血管体模提供了一种低成本且有效的方法。其独特的形态和可定制性使其能够被塑造成各种血管网络构型，提高了体模成像的保真度，并有助于系统校准和验证。此外，从这种逼真的微血管体模获得的数据可为训练机器学习模型提供更多机会。
