Elmore Colon (salecell70)
Photoacoustic computed tomography (PACT) combines the optical contrast of optical imaging and the penetrability of sonography. In this work, we develop a novel PACT system to provide real-time imaging, which is achieved by a 120-elements ultrasound array only using a single data acquisition (DAQ) channel. To reduce the channel number of DAQ, we superimpose 30 nearby channels' signals together in the analog domain, and shrinking to 4 channels of data (120/30 = 4). Furthermore, a four-to-one delay-line module is designed to combine these four channels' data into one channel before entering the single-channel DAQ, followed by decoupling the signals after data acquisition. To reconstruct the image from four superimposed 30-channels' PA signals, we train a dedicated deep learning model to reconstruct the final PA image. In this paper, we present the preliminary results of phantom and in-vivo experiments, which manifests its robust real-time imaging performance. The significance of this novel PACT system is that it dramatically reduces the cost of multi-channel DAQ module (from 120 channels to 1 channel), paving the way to a portable, low-cost and real-time PACT system.The ability to monitor oxygen delivery in microvasculature plays a vital role in measuring the viability of skin tissue and the probability of recovery. Using currently available clinical imaging tools, it is difficult to observe non-invasive hemodynamic regulation in the peripheral vessels. Here we propose the use of a novel multispectral raster-scanning optoacoustic mesoscopy (RSOM) system for noninvasive clinical monitoring of hemodynamic changes in the skin microvasculature's oxy- (HbO2) and deoxy-hemoglobin (Hb), total hemoglobin (HbT) and oxygen saturation (rsO2). High resolution images of hemoglobin distribution in the skin microvasculature from six healthy volunteers during venous and arterial occlusion, simulating systemic vascular diseases are presented. During venous occlusion, Hb and HbO2 optoacoustic signals showed an increasing trend with time, followed by a drop in the values after cuff deflation. During arterial occlusion, an increase in Hb value and decrease in HbO2 values was observed, followed by a drop in Hb and jump in HbO2 values after the cuff deflation. A decrease in rsO2 values during both venous and arterial occlusion was observed with an increase in value after occlusion release. Using this proof of concept study, hereby we propose multispectral RSOM as a novel tool to measure high resolution hemodynamic changes in microvasculature for investigating systemic vascular diseases on peripheral tissues and also for monitoring inflammatory skin diseases, and its therapeutic interventions.Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is an identified complication of the COVID-19 infection. A common presentation of both COVID-19 and MIS-C is acute abdominal pain, sometimes mimicking appendicitis. We report two cases of patients initially diagnosed with appendicitis who either presented with or developed signs of shock and were found to have MIS-C. An 8-year-old girl who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) presented with fever, abdominal pain, and shock with ultrasound findings consistent with acute appendicitis. After being treated for MIS-C, she underwent appendectomy and improved. Final pathology was consistent with acute appendicitis. A 9-year-old girl who tested negative for COVID RT-PCR presented with uncomplicated appendicitis and underwent laparoscopic appendectomy, but developed post-operative fever and shock. Antibody testing was positive and she responded to treatment for MIS-C. Histology showed lymphohistiocytic inflammation within the muscularis propria, mesoappendix and serosa without the typical neutrophil-rich inflammation and mucosal involvement of acute appendicitis. The diagnosis was MIS-C, not appendicitis. Given the new