Basic studies on optical imaging of biological tissue using acousto-optic effect

摘要

Optical imaging of a biological tissue is a promising method that can visualize not only a shape but also a function of a biological tissue as well. However, a spatial resolution of the image is poor because the biological tissue is a highly turbid medium. In order to overcome this problem, several studies have been reported to improve the spatial resolution using ultrasound-modulated light. Since intensity of modulated light is strongly attenuated by transmission through a turbid medium, it is still difficult to detect the modulated light with sufficient S/N. In this report, the mechanism of light modulation by acousto-optic effect is studied and the feasibility of optical imaging with this mechanism is investigated. As the back-scattered light is easily detectable, even from a thick tissue, acousto-optic effect is applied to the back-scattered light then the possibility to detect a modulated component from this back-scattered light is evaluated.