This study, lead by previous postdoctoral fellow Shanshan Tang in TRUE lab, shows that X-ray-induced Acoustic Computed Tomography (XACT) imaging can be used for early breast un‐palpable microcalcification (μCa) detection in three dimensions (3D).

The simulation results illustrated that the proposed breast XACT system has the ability to show the μCa cluster in 3D without any tissue superposition. Meanwhile, μCa as small as 100 μm in size can be detected with high imaging contrast, high signal to noise ratio (SNR), and high contrast to noise ratio (CNR). The dose required by the proposed XACT configuration was calculated to be 0.4 mGy for a 4.5 cm‐thick compressed breast. This is one‐tenth of the dose level of a typical two‐view mammography for a breast with the same compression thickness.

The 3D breast XACT with the proposed system configuration has great potential to be applied as a low‐dose screening and diagnostic technique for early un‐palpable lesion in the breast.

Publication link: https://aapm.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/mp.12829

This study, lead by previous postdoctoral fellow Shanshan Tang in TRUE lab, shows that X-ray-induced Acoustic Computed Tomography (XACT) imaging can be used to non-destructively test and identify defects in concrete. For concrete structures, we conclude that XACT imaging allows multiscale imaging at depths ranging from centimeters to meters, with spatial resolutions from sub-millimeter to centimeters. XACT imaging also holds promise for single-side testing of concrete infrastructure and provides an optimal solution for nondestructive inspection of existing bridges, pavement, nuclear power plants, and other concrete infrastructure. This is a collaborative effort with Dr. Chris Ramseyer, an expert in constructed concrete at OU School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science.

Publication: http://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.5009936

This new study, lead by Dr. Shanshan Tang, developed and tested a new system that offers rapid and high resolution XACT imaging which has been accepted for publication in Applied Physics Letters. The 5 MHz ultrasound array with 128 transducers and multi-channel parallel data receiver provides full tomographic imaging capability at speed up to 25 fps and 138μm resolutions. The system and methodology provided in this letter has potential for dynamic imaging of physiological activity, and for noninvasive clinical diagnosis. We hope the system configuration described in this letter will promote the XACT technique towards future clinical practice.

See more information on the Applied Physics Letters website:

http://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/1.4978049 

This study, lead by PhD student Pratik Samant in TRUE lab, shows that there is no significant temperature rise in our nanoscale photoacoustic tomography (nPAT) for imaging a single living cell. nPAT uses a laser-induced acoustic pulse to generate a nanometer-scale image. The primary motivation behind this imaging technique is the imaging of biological cells in the context of diagnosis without fluorescent tagging. We believe that nPAT will open an avenue for disease diagnosis and cell biology studies at the nanometer-level.

Reference:

Pratik Samant, Jian Chen, Liangzhong Xiang, “Characterization of the temperature rise in a single cell during photoacoustic tomography at the nanoscale,” J. Biomed. Opt. 21(7), 075009 (2016), doi: 10.1117/1.JBO.21.7.075009.

Recently we report a high resolution XACT imaging technique on Scientific Reports (from the Nature Publishing Group) by Drs. Liangzhong Xiang and Shanshan Tang.

This new imaging modality, X-ray Induced Acoustic Tomography (XACT), takes advantages of high sensitivity to X-ray absorption and high ultrasonic resolution in a single modality. A single projection X-ray exposure is sufficient to generate acoustic signals in 3D space because the X-ray generated acoustic waves are of a spherical nature and propagate in all directions from their point of generation. We demonstrate the successful reconstruction of gold fiducial markers with a spatial resolution of about 350 μm. XACT reveals a new imaging mechanism and provides uncharted opportunities for structural determination with X-ray.

This is a collaborative effort between TRUE lab at OU and Dr. Lei Xing’s lab at Stanford Medical School.

Link for the paper: http://www.nature.com/articles/srep26118

Our paper has been accepted to the IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging. This paper provides new insight into the positioning of detector-source combinations in a transurethral photoacoustic endoscopy for prostate cancer.

Transurethral Photoacoustic Endoscopy for Prostate Cancer: A Simulation Study

Shanshan Tang, Jian Chen, Pratik Samant, Kelly Stratton and Liangzhong Xiang

IEEE Trans. Med. Imag. In press.

Our new article on imaging-guided high-efficient photoacoustic tumor therapy is out!

Xiang’s recent paper on X-ray acoustic imaging (Med Phys. 2013; 40(1):01070.) was selected to be the cover of Jan. issue of the Medical Physics Journal. The work was also highlighted under the Editor’s Picks column and is on the list of the most downloaded papers in Medical Physics Website.