Photoacoustic 3D visualization of tumor angiogenesis

Photoacoustic imaging is used to obtain a range of three-dimensional images representing tumor neovascularization over a 10-day period after subcutaneous inoculation of pancreatic tumor cells in a rat. The images are reconstructed from data measured with a double-ring photoacoustic detector. The ultrasound data originates from the optical absorption by hemoglobin of 14 ns laser pulses at a wavelength of 1064 nm. Three-dimensional data is obtained by using two dimensional linear scanning. Scanning and motion artifacts are reduced using a correction method. The data is used to visualize the development of the individual blood vessels around the growing tumor, blood concentration changes inside the tumor and growth in depth of the neovascularized region. The three-dimensional vasculature reconstruction is created using VTK, which enables us to create a composition of the vasculature on day seven, eight and ten and to interactively measure tumor growth in the near future