Optoacoustic diffraction tomography: analysis of algorithms.

We consider the problem of using the photoacoustic effect to image the optical properties of tissue. A region of tissue is assumed to be illuminated by frequency-modulated light that creates an ultrasonic wave of the same frequency. This wave is detected on a passive array of receiving transducers distributed over a circular or a cylindrical aperture. If the frequency is swept over a broad band (or, equivalently, if we illuminate with a pulse and Fourier transform the response), then a spatial map of a parameter that depends on the optical absorption coefficient of the tissue can be recovered. Analytical inversion formulas are derived in both two and three dimensions. The effects of band-limited data on image quality are also investigated.