Characteristics of a Photoacoustic Detector for Biomedical Measurements

Abstract

This paper reports on the characteristics of a photoacoustic wave detector designed for skin tissue diagnoses. The detector was composed of a ring-shaped piezoelectric film and a quartz fiber for delivering nanosecond light pulses. We measured the detectability of absorbing layers in a gelatin skin model. It was shown that the sampling depth was greater than 4 mm and an absorbing layer as thin as 12 mm could be detected. A Monte Carlo simulation was also performed to analyze the behavior of the photons in the skin tissue. We conclude that the detector has applications for monitoring blood distribution in skin tissue.