Photoacoustic imaging is an emerging bioimaging technique in which pulsed light generates ultrasound inside living tissues. This allows imaging blood vessels and other structures with microscale spatial resolution and cm-scale fields of view. Photoacoustics is non-invasive and non-ionizing, allowing harmless repeat imaging of living humans and animals, and non-destructive imaging of non-living subjects such as tissues samples. We are interested in photoacoustics and related technologies including:

Applications. Finding the most impactful applications in clinical, preclinical and tissue imaging spaces. 

Thermoacoustics. Imaging with ultrasound excited by pulsed microwaves which could allow imaging the whole human body with electromagnetic contrast.

Optical ultrasound detection. Sensitive broadband detection with small elements, well matched to photoacoustics and related techniques.

Coherent photoacoustics. Photoacoustics with coherent light for applications such as focussing light deep inside tissue for ultra-deep microscopy.

Miniaturization. Developing small lightweight systems which could broaden the applicability of intra-surgical, endoscopic and hand-held photoacoustic probes.