Abstract

Acousto-optic imaging in strongly light-scattering tissues seeks to reveal optical contrasts in these turbid media. Nevertheless, this technique happens to be also sensitive to their acoustic contrasts. We have built a new setup combining a dedicated echograph and an acousto-optic imager in a single apparatus. Thanks to this setup, we have studied ultrasound absorbent and light absorbent features embedded in several centimeter thick biological tissues, and we have compared for the first time the acoustic and acousto-optic signals recorded in the same configuration. We show that even though optical contrast is the ultimate goal of this technique, preliminary acoustic investigation of the tissue is necessary to interpret correctly acousto-optical signals.

© 2001 OSA/SPIE