Tomographic imaging with an ultrasound and LED-based photoacoustic system.

Pulsed lasers in photoacoustic tomography systems are expensive, which limit their use to a few clinics and small animal labs. We present a method to realize tomographic ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging using a commercial LED-based photoacoustic and ultrasound system. We present two illumination configurations using LED array units and an optimal number of angular views for tomographic reconstruction. The proposed method can be a cost-effective solution for applications demanding tomographic imaging and can be easily integrated into conventional linear array-based ultrasound systems. We present a potential application for finger joint imaging in vivo, which can be used for point-of-care rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis and monitoring.