Optical Ultrasound Imaging Device Development and Characterisation: A Literature Review

The development of minimally invasive surgical interventions has drastically reduced patients’ recovery periods and superficial scarring, lowering the risk of post-operative infections. However, using narrower incisions into the body has reduced the clinician’s view and dexterity of their instruments, necessitating improved image guidance technology. Optical ultrasound (OpUS) generation is emerging as a promising route to generate ultrasound with broadband frequencies at high amplitudes minimally invasively. Here, through the use of optically absorbing films or coatings and pulsed laser excitation, high-resolution, real-time ultrasound imaging at clinically significant tissue depths can be achieved using a miniaturised device. Many carbonaceous and nanoparticulate-based thin films or composites have been examined for optimal OpUS generation. Further, complex patient-specific phantoms formed from tissue-mimicking materials have been developed to characterise OpUS imaging devices, mimicking clinical scenarios and providing training models for clinicians.