Photoacoustic imaging has drawn a significant amount of attention due to its unique capacity for functional, metabolic, and molecular imaging, which is achieved by the combination of optical excitation and acoustic detection. With both strengths of light and ultrasound, photoacoustic images can provide strong optical contrast at high ultrasound resolution in deep tissue. As photoacoustic imaging can be used to visualize complementary information to ultrasound imaging using the same data acquisition process, several studies have been conducted on combining photoacoustic imaging with existing clinical ultrasound systems. This review highlights our development of a photoacoustic/ultrasound dual-modal imaging system, various features and functionalities implemented for clinical translation, and preclinical/clinical studies performed by using the systems.
Keywords: Photoacoustic imaging; biomedical studies; clinical applications; clinical system; dual-modal imaging; ultrasound imaging.