Handheld Real-Time LED-Based Photoacoustic and Ultrasound Imaging System for Accurate Visualization of Clinical Metal Needles and Superficial Vasculature to Guide Minimally Invasive Procedures - PubMed Skip to main page content
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. 2018 May 1;18(5):1394.
doi: 10.3390/s18051394.

Handheld Real-Time LED-Based Photoacoustic and Ultrasound Imaging System for Accurate Visualization of Clinical Metal Needles and Superficial Vasculature to Guide Minimally Invasive Procedures

Wenfeng Xia  1   2 , Mithun Kuniyil Ajith Singh  3 , Efthymios Maneas  4   5 , Naoto Sato  6 , Yusuke Shigeta  7 , Toshitaka Agano  8 , Sebastian Ourselin  9   10 , Simeon J West  11 , Adrien E Desjardins  12   13
Affiliations

Handheld Real-Time LED-Based Photoacoustic and Ultrasound Imaging System for Accurate Visualization of Clinical Metal Needles and Superficial Vasculature to Guide Minimally Invasive Procedures

Wenfeng Xia et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

Ultrasound imaging is widely used to guide minimally invasive procedures, but the visualization of the invasive medical device and the procedure’s target is often challenging. Photoacoustic imaging has shown great promise for guiding minimally invasive procedures, but clinical translation of this technology has often been limited by bulky and expensive excitation sources. In this work, we demonstrate the feasibility of guiding minimally invasive procedures using a dual-mode photoacoustic and ultrasound imaging system with excitation from compact arrays of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) at 850 nm. Three validation experiments were performed. First, clinical metal needles inserted into biological tissue were imaged. Second, the imaging depth of the system was characterized using a blood-vessel-mimicking phantom. Third, the superficial vasculature in human volunteers was imaged. It was found that photoacoustic imaging enabled needle visualization with signal-to-noise ratios that were 1.2 to 2.2 times higher than those obtained with ultrasound imaging, over insertion angles of 26 to 51 degrees. With the blood vessel mimicking phantom, the maximum imaging depth was 38 mm. The superficial vasculature of a human middle finger and a human wrist were clearly visualized in real-time. We conclude that the LED-based system is promising for guiding minimally invasive procedures with peripheral tissue targets.

Keywords: LED; minimally invasive procedures; needle guidance; photoacoustic imaging; ultrasonography; vasculature.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Block diagram of the light-emitting diode (LED)-based photoacoustic (PA) and ultrasound (US) imaging system. Middle left: photograph of the arrangement of the two LED arrays and the US imaging probe. The two arrays are positioned on both sides of the US imaging probe, angled towards the imaging plane. Bottom left: photograph of an LED array (wavelength: 850 nm). It consists of four rows of 36 LEDs (dimensions: 1 mm × 1 mm). DAQ: data acquisition; Tx: transmit; Rx: receive; TGC: time gain compensation; ADC: analog-to-digital converter; PRF: pulse repetition frequency; USB: universal serial bus; PC: personal computer; GPU: graphics processing unit.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Schematic illustration of the resolution phantom and the measurement geometry. The phantom, which comprised six light-absorbing wires mounted at different depths (Z) on an acrylic frame, was positioned so that these wires were perpendicular to the imaging plane (IP). LED: light-emitting diode; (b) Photoacoustic (PA) and ultrasound (US) images were acquired with the phantom at two different lateral (Y) positions so that the wires were near the side and the center with respect to the ultrasound imaging probe, respectively. Both PA and US images were displayed in linear scales (a.u.: arbitrary units); (c) Measured axial and lateral PA imaging resolution for the two lateral positions of the phantom (side and center) as a function of depth; and (d) the corresponding values for US imaging.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Photoacoustic (PA) images, ultrasound (US) images, and overlaid PA and US images (PA + US) of a spinal needle inserted into chicken breast tissue at different angles (a–i). Signal-to-noise (SNR) ratios for PA images were substantially higher than those for US images at all insertion angles (j). During the insertions, these images were reconstructed and displayed in real-time on a logarithmic scale. Here, they are presented without the uppermost 5 mm, which contained the ultrasound gel. Each point in the SNR plots was calculated from one spatial region.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Photoacoustic (PA) and ultrasound (US) images of a phantom comprising a vessel positioned in chicken breast tissue at different depths (a–i). The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the PA images decreased with the vessel depth and with the imaging frame rate (j). At 1.5 frames per second (FPS), the SNR of the US images was lower than that of the PA images for all depths. During the insertions, these images were reconstructed and displayed in real-time on a logarithmic scale. Here, they are presented without the uppermost 5 mm, which contained the ultrasound gel. FPS: frames per second. Each point in the SNR plots was calculated from one spatial region.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Photoacoustic (PA) and ultrasound (US) imaging of a needle inserted towards a vessel mimicking phantom. (a) US image; (b) PA image at 850 nm; (c) PA + US image overlay. During the insertions, these images were reconstructed and displayed in real-time on a logarithmic scale. Here, they are presented without the uppermost 5 mm, which contained the ultrasound gel. A video is provided in Supplementary Materials (Video S1).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Photoacoustic (PA) and ultrasound (US) images of a middle finger of a human volunteer. (a) Schematic indicating the location of the imaging plane; (b) PA image; (c) US image; (d) PA + US image overlay. In the PA image (b), signals from low depths may have corresponded to veins (blue arrows) and the skin surface (yellow arrow); signals from a two-layered structure may have corresponded to a digital artery (red arrow). These images were reconstructed and displayed in real-time on logarithmic scales. Here, they are presented without the uppermost 5 mm, which contained the water. Pulsations of the digital artery were apparent (Supplementary Materials; Video S2).
Figure 7
Figure 7
Photoacoustic (PA) and ultrasound (US) images of a wrist of a human volunteer. (a) Schematic indicating the location of the imaging plane; (b) PA image; (c) US image; (d) PA + US image overlay. In the PA image (b), the prominent signals likely originated from blood vessels (arrows). Images were reconstructed and displayed in real-time on logarithmic scales. Here, they are presented without the uppermost 5 mm, which contained the ultrasound gel. Bulk tissue motion and localized pulsatile subsurface motion were apparent in the corresponding video (Supplementary Materials; Video S3).
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