A Photoacoustic Tomography And Ultrasound Combined System For Proximal Interphalangeal Joint Imaging

A photoacoustic (PA) and ultrasound (US) dual modality system for imaging human peripheral joints is introduced. The system utilizes a commercial US unit for both US control imaging and PA signal acquisition. Preliminary in vivo evaluation of the system on normal volunteers revealed that this system can recover both the structural and functional information of intra-and extra-articular tissues. Presenting both morphological and pathological information in joint, this system holds promise for diagnosis and characterization of inflammatory joint diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.