Ultrafast 3D photoacoustic system development using a matrix array transducer

Real-time 3-D photoacoustic (PA) imaging plays a significant role in volumetric imaging applications, such as breast imaging where PA has demonstrated significant potential. Challenges in 3-D PA imaging include long data acquisition time and limited compatibility with commonly used data acquisition systems. This paper introduces a new real-time 3-D PA data acquisition system using a matrix array transducer. Furthermore, we present a 3-D Delay and Glow (DAG) method for source localization that extends upon recently developed 2-D DAG. The experimental results show the functionality of the 3-D PA system. The DAG outperformed the conventional delay and sum (DAS) where axial, lateral, and elevational resolutions, respectively, are 0.06±0.00, 0.25±0.15, and 0.24±0.18mm for DAG and 0.14±0.06, 3.87±0.30, and 2.81±0.62mm for DAS.