Wide-field fast-scanning photoacoustic microscopy based on a water-immersible MEMS scanning mirror.

By offering images with high spatial resolution and unique optical absorption contrast, optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM) has gained increasing attention in biomedical research. Recent developments in OR-PAM have improved its imaging speed, but have to sacrifice either the detection sensitivity or field of view or both. We have developed a wide-field fast-scanning OR-PAM by using a water-immersible microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) scanning mirror (MEMS-OR-PAM). In MEMS-OR-PAM, the optical and acoustic beams are confocally configured and simultaneously steered, which ensures the uniform detection sensitivity. A B-scan imaging speed as high as 400 Hz can be achieved over a 3 mm scanning range. Using the system, we imaged the flow dynamics of both red blood cells and carbon particles in a mouse ear in vivo. Presented results show that MEMS-OR-PAM could be a powerful tool for studying highly dynamic and time-sensitive biological phenomena.