Characterization of the Elasticity of Small Objects Buried in Media Based on the Measurements of Photoacoustic Temporal Waveforms

Abstract

Since the elasticity of biological tissues is related to their pathological states, the development of new methods allowing for non-invasive measurements of the elasticity has been desired in the medical field. We present a characterization of the elasticity of objects buried in media from the temporal waveforms of photoacoustic signals. As the increment in Young’s moduli of the objects, the frequency corresponding to the gravitational center of the power spectra obtained by the Fourier-transformation of the waveforms is increased. In our experiment configuration, the elasticity of buried objects is able to be identified up to about 1 MPa of Young’s modulus from the frequency. These results suggest that measurements on the temporal waveforms of photoacoustic signals and the resultant power spectra would provide a useful method for evaluating the elasticity of deeply-situated microscopic pathological lesions, such as stage 0 or 1 mammary gland cancer, which is difficult by conventional ultrasound elastography.