Open AccessOptical-thermal light-tissue interactions during photoacoustic breast imaging
Author(s) -
Taylor Gould,
Quanzeng Wang,
T. Joshua Pfefer
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
biomedical optics express
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.362
H-Index - 86
ISSN - 2156-7085
DOI - 10.1364/boe.5.000832
Subject(s) - materials science , laser , optics , thermal , wavelength , irradiation , photoacoustic imaging in biomedicine , heat transfer , fluence , pulse duration , optoelectronics , physics , meteorology , nuclear physics , thermodynamics
Light-tissue interactions during photoacoustic imaging, including dynamic heat transfer processes in and around vascular structures, are not well established. A three-dimensional, transient, optical-thermal computational model was used to simulate energy deposition, temperature distributions and thermal damage in breast tissue during exposure to pulsed laser trains at 800 and 1064 nm. Rapid and repetitive temperature increases and thermal relaxation led to superpositioning effects that were highly dependent on vessel diameter and depth. For a ten second exposure at established safety limits, the maximum single-pulse and total temperature rise levels were 0.2°C and 5.8°C, respectively. No significant thermal damage was predicted. The impact of tissue optical properties, surface boundary condition and irradiation wavelength on peak temperature location and temperature evolution with time are discussed.