Photoacoustic Imaging in Oxygen Detection

Oxygen level, including blood oxygen saturation (sO(2)) and tissue oxygen partial pressure (pO(2)), are crucial physiological parameters in life science. This paper reviews the importance of these two parameters and the detection methods for them, focusing on the application of photoacoustic imaging in this scenario. sO(2) is traditionally detected with optical spectra-based methods, and has recently been proven uniquely efficient by using photoacoustic methods. pO(2), on the other hand, is typically detected by PET, MRI, or pure optical approaches, yet with limited spatial resolution, imaging frame rate, or penetration depth. Great potential has also been demonstrated by employing photoacoustic imaging to overcome the existing limitations of the aforementioned techniques.