Ring-based ultrasonic virtual point detector with applications to photoacoustic tomography

This is the published version. Copyright © 2007 American Institute of PhysicsAn ultrasonic virtual point detector is constructed using the center of a ring transducer. The virtual point detector provides ideal omnidirectional detection free of any aperture effect. Compared with a real point detector, the virtual one has lower thermal noise and can be scanned with its center inside a physically inaccessible medium. When applied to photoacoustictomography, the virtual point detector provides both high spatial resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio. It can also be potentially applied to other ultrasound-related technologies