Detailed Description
The following description of the embodiments of the present application will be made clearly and fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which it is evident that the embodiments described are only some, but not all embodiments of the application. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the application without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the application.
Reference herein to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the application. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Those of skill in the art will explicitly and implicitly appreciate that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.
The photoacoustic signal acquisition device is used for acquiring photoacoustic signals of biological samples. The biological sample may be a small animal such as a mouse or a rabbit, or may be a part of a living body such as limbs, brain, etc., and is not particularly limited herein.
Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of a photoacoustic signal collecting apparatus according to the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the photoacoustic signal acquiring apparatus 100 includes a laser generating assembly 110, an ultrasonic transduction assembly 120, and a signal collector 130.
Wherein the laser generating assembly 110 is used for generating laser.
Alternatively, the laser generating assembly 110 includes a laser 111, an optical path adjusting unit 112, and an optical fiber assembly 113.
The laser 111 is used for emitting laser, and when the pulsed laser generated by the laser 111 is used as a detection signal source and is projected to a sample to be detected, the absorber on the surface and in the sample absorbs light to generate instant severe thermal expansion, so that thermal excitation ultrasonic waves are generated. The laser 111 provided in this embodiment includes, but is not limited to, at least one of Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (YAG) laser, ruby laser, neodymium glass laser, nitrogen molecule laser, and excimer laser.
The optical path adjusting unit 112 is used to adjust the laser light emitted by the laser 111, for example, the optical path adjusting unit 112 may be used to collimate, expand or shrink the laser light, and can efficiently couple the laser light emitted by the laser 111 into the optical fiber assembly 113. Alternatively, the optical path adjusting unit 112 may be a device having a function of focusing laser light, such as a convex lens or a focusing mirror.
The optical fiber assembly 113 is disposed on the optical path of the laser 111, and is used for coupling and transmitting the adjusted laser to the target to be detected.
Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the optical fiber assembly in fig. 1. As shown in fig. 2, the fiber optic assembly 113 includes a coupler 1131, a first fiber optic bundle 1132, a plurality of second fiber optic bundles 1133, and a bundle clamping assembly 1134.
The coupler 1131 is disposed on the optical path of the laser 111, and is used for coupling the adjusted laser.
The first fiber bundle 1132 is coupled to the coupler 1131, and the first fiber bundle 1132 includes a plurality of optical fibers. Specifically, the coupler 1131 couples the tuned laser light into the first fiber bundle 1132, i.e., the tuned laser light is transmitted in the first fiber bundle 1132.
A plurality of second optical fiber bundles 1133 are furcated from the ends of the first optical fiber bundles 1132, each second optical fiber bundle 1133 including a plurality of optical fibers, the sum of the optical fibers contained in all the second optical fiber bundles 1133 being equal to the number of optical fibers contained in the first optical fiber bundles 1132.
The inventor discovers that when the traditional photoacoustic signal acquisition device uses an optical fiber bundle to transmit laser, a plurality of light outlets of a plurality of optical fibers in the optical fiber bundle usually form a circle, so that the laser emitted by the optical fibers is emitted to the surface of a target to be detected in a divergent manner, the arrangement mode of the light outlets of the optical fibers is not beneficial to converging laser energy, the surface of the target to be detected cannot reach the condition of generating ultrasonic waves due to insufficient laser energy, and on the other hand, the photoacoustic signal generated by the target to be detected is very likely to be not comprehensively acquired by the signal acquisition device.
In this embodiment, each of the second optical fiber bundles 1133 includes a plurality of optical fibers, each of the optical fibers includes a light outlet, and the light outlets of the optical fibers are used for emitting laser light to the surface of the object to be detected, and the light outlets of the plurality of optical fibers in each of the second optical fiber bundles 1133 are located on a straight line. In a specific embodiment, the optical fibers of each second optical fiber bundle 1133 may be arranged in a side-by-side manner in the same layer of space, so that the light outlets of the optical fibers are located on a straight line.
Optionally, the fiber optic assembly further includes a plurality of enclosures 1135, each enclosure 1135 enclosing a respective one of the second bundles 1133.
Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the present embodiment of the package box for packaging a second optical fiber bundle, as shown in fig. 3, light outlets of a plurality of optical fibers in the second optical fiber bundle 1133 are located on a straight line L of the package box, so in this embodiment, the light outlets of a plurality of optical fibers in each second optical fiber bundle 1133 may be located on a straight line by packaging the light outlets of the plurality of optical fibers in the second optical fiber bundle 1133 on the straight line L.
In this embodiment, the light outlets of the plurality of optical fibers of each second optical fiber bundle 1133 are arranged on the same straight line, so that the laser emitted to the target to be detected can be gathered, and the energy of the laser is fully converged, so that the target to be detected can smoothly generate the photoacoustic signal. In addition, as the light outlets of the optical fibers are positioned on the same straight line, the laser spots positioned on the surface of the object to be detected can be caused to be basically positioned on the straight line, so that the emission range of laser can be widened to a certain extent, more positions of the object to be detected can be caused to receive the laser, and then the photoacoustic signals are generated, and further the more comprehensive photoacoustic signals can be collected.
Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of the fiber bundle clamping assembly of fig. 2. As shown in fig. 4, the fiber optic bundle clamping assembly 1134 includes a clamping plate 11341 and a plurality of clamps 11342.
The plurality of clamping members 11342 are arranged in a second arc-shaped array B, and an opening of the second arc-shaped array B faces the object to be detected, and each clamping member 11342 correspondingly clamps a packaging box 1135 with a second optical fiber bundle 1133. In practice, the clamping members 11342 are used to fix the position of the second optical fiber bundle 1133, so that the transmission laser of the second optical fiber bundle 1133 clamped by each clamping member 11342 can be emitted to a designated position of the object to be detected.
In particular, the present embodiment considers that the object to be detected is generally a biological sample, such as an extremity of the biological sample, i.e., the object to be detected is generally cylindrical. Therefore, in this embodiment, the plurality of clamping members 11342 are arranged in the second arc-shaped array B, and the opening of the second arc-shaped array B faces the object to be detected, and by "the plurality of clamping members 11342 are arranged in the second arc-shaped array B" it is meant that the plurality of clamping members 11342 are located at different positions of one arc. Wherein the second arc B is a part of a circle, e.g. 1/2 of a circle, i.e. a semicircle, 1/3 of a circle, i.e. a 120 degree circle, etc. The arrangement mode is more in line with the morphological characteristics of the biological sample to be detected, so that the biological sample to be detected can be kept in a comfortable state during testing, and the user experience can be improved.
It can be understood that the diameter of the second arc B should be greater than a preset threshold value, which reflects the size of the largest target to be detected that can be detected by the photoacoustic signal acquiring apparatus 100 provided in the present embodiment. In this way, the laser can be ensured to comprehensively irradiate the target to be tested on the two-dimensional plane.
Alternatively, in order to achieve uniform acquisition of photoacoustic signals generated by the object to be detected, the included angles between two adjacent clamping members 11342 may be set equal.
The clamping members 11342 are disposed on the clamping plate 11341, and each clamping member 11342 is disposed at a predetermined angle with respect to the clamping plate 11341. For example, the preset angle is 30 °. That is, each clamping member 11342 is disposed at the same angle as the clamping plate 11341, as described above, since the laser light emitted by each second optical fiber bundle 1133 irradiates the surface of the object to be detected and the laser light spots generated by each clamping member 11342 are disposed at the same angle as the clamping plate 11341, the laser light spots generated by the second optical fiber bundles 1133 clamped by the plurality of clamping members 11342 also substantially lie on the same straight line, thereby realizing that the laser light spots emitted by all the optical fibers lie on the same straight line and further comprehensively collecting the photoacoustic signals of the object to be detected in the vicinity of the straight line.
Obviously, by adjusting the size of the preset angle, the laser spots irradiated on the surface of the target to be detected can be located on different straight lines, and in an application scene, the scanning on the three-dimensional space of the target to be detected can be realized by continuously adjusting the size of the preset angle, and then the photoacoustic signals on the three-dimensional space are acquired.
Alternatively, the first optical fiber bundle 1132 may use a plurality of optical fibers with the same specification, and each of the second optical fiber bundles 1133 includes the same number of optical fibers. For example, the first fiber bundle 1132 includes 100 fibers of the same size, and the end of the first fiber bundle 1132 is divided into 5 second fiber bundles 1133, that is, each second fiber bundle 1133 includes 20 fibers. In this way it is ensured that the laser intensities finally emitted to the different positions of the object to be detected are substantially identical. It should be noted that the foregoing is merely illustrative of one form of existence of the first optical fiber bundle 1132 and the second optical fiber bundle 1133, and the optical fibers included in the second optical fiber bundle 1133 may be different according to the practical application scenario. It is appreciated that the number of fibers included in the first fiber bundle 1132, the number of second fiber bundles 1133, and the number of fibers included in each second fiber bundle 1133 may vary depending on the size of the object to be inspected and the different requirements for pulse energy.
Optionally, the fiber optic bundle clamp assembly 1134 is fabricated using 3D printing techniques. The 3D printing technology belongs to a rapid prototyping technology, and is a technology for constructing an object by using powdery metal or plastic and other bondable materials in a layer-by-layer stacking and accumulating mode based on a digital model file, namely a lamination prototyping method. Of course, the fiber optic bundle clamping assembly may be manufactured in any other manner, and is not specifically limited herein.
Conventional photoacoustic imaging systems are typically based on a closed circular array ultrasound transducer into which an arm or leg of an object to be detected (e.g., a person) is extended in use, and through which the resulting photoacoustic signal is received. The inventor of the present application has found through long-term research that the closed annular array ultrasonic transducer is very inconvenient in the practical use process, because the outline of the human arm or leg is different and very different, the closed annular can directly exclude a part of the target to be detected with larger size, and the limitation of system imaging is caused. In addition, as the limbs need to extend into the closed ring shape in the imaging process of the object to be detected, discomfort of the object to be detected can be caused, and the user experience is low.
Based on this, the photoacoustic signal acquiring apparatus 100 provided in the present embodiment can overcome the above-described disadvantage of the photoacoustic imaging system in use.
Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the ultrasonic transducer assembly of fig. 1. As shown in fig. 5, the ultrasonic transducer assembly 120 of the present embodiment includes a plurality of ultrasonic transducers 121, and the ultrasonic transducers 121 are configured to receive photoacoustic signals generated by laser light acting on an object to be detected, and convert the received photoacoustic signals into electrical signals for further transmission. It is understood that the number of the ultrasonic transducers 121 included in the ultrasonic transducer assembly 120 of the present embodiment may vary according to actual needs, for example, 200, 250, 300, etc. The more the number of ultrasonic transducers 121 within a certain range, the faster the acquisition rate of photoacoustic signals of the target to be detected.
The ultrasonic transducer assembly 120 of the present embodiment includes a plurality of ultrasonic transducers 121 arranged in an array, and in fact, the ultrasonic transducers 121 may also be a plurality of array elements of the ultrasonic transducer assembly 120.
Further, as shown in fig. 5, the plurality of ultrasonic transducers 121 are arranged in a first arc a array, and an opening of the first arc a is used for placing an object to be detected. Wherein the first arc a, which is a part of a circle, e.g. 1/2 of a circle, i.e. a semicircle, 1/3 of a circle, i.e. a 120 degree circle, etc., may be a major arc or a minor arc.
It will be appreciated that the diameter of the first arc a should likewise be greater than the above-mentioned preset threshold value, i.e. the "above-mentioned preset threshold value" is the preset threshold value, which the diameter of the second arc B should be greater than.
Through setting up a plurality of ultrasonic transducer 121 with first arc A array, can place the target that waits to detect in first arc A's opening part, and then can make the target that waits to detect with a comfortable posture, improve user experience.
Alternatively, the present embodiment enables the ultrasonic transduction assembly 120 to more accurately acquire the photoacoustic signal generated by the target to be detected by controlling the positional relationship of the optical fiber bundle clamping assembly 1134 and the ultrasonic transduction assembly 120.
Specifically, referring to fig. 4, fig. 5 and fig. 6 together, fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an implementation of the positional relationship between the optical fiber clamping assembly and the ultrasonic transducer assembly in this embodiment. As shown in fig. 4-6, the plane of the first arc a formed by the plurality of ultrasonic transducers 121 may be parallel to the clamping plate 11341 of the optical fiber bundle clamping assembly 1134. Obviously, since the plurality of clamping members 11342 are disposed on the clamping plate 11341 and form a predetermined angle α with the clamping plate 11341, the plane of the first arc a forms the predetermined angle α with the plurality of clamping members 11342. In this way, in the case that the distance between the ultrasonic transduction component 120 and the optical fiber bundle clamping component 1134 and the respective dimensions thereof are fixed, by adjusting the preset angle α, the spot position of the laser emitted by the second optical fiber bundle 1133 clamped by the clamping component 11342, that is, the spot position on the target to be detected, can be controlled, and thus the plane of each laser spot is coincident with the plane of the first arc a, and finally, the photoacoustic coaxiality is realized, so that the ultrasonic transduction component 120 located in the plane of the first arc a can better receive the photoacoustic signal.
It can be appreciated that when the preset angle α between the plane of the first arc a and the plurality of clamping members 11342 is unchanged, the distance between the clamping plate 11341 of the optical fiber bundle clamping assembly 1134 and the ultrasonic ring energy assembly 120 can be adjusted, so that the ultrasonic ring energy assembly 120 located in the plane of the first arc a can better receive the photoacoustic signal.
Further, since the plurality of clamping members 11342 are disposed in the second arc shape B, in order to improve the accuracy of the photoacoustic signal received by the ultrasonic transducer assembly 120, the size of the first arc shape a may be equal to the size of the second arc shape B.
By the mode, when the object to be detected is detected, the whole object to be detected does not need to be arranged in the closed annular ultrasonic transducer in a penetrating way, and the object to be detected can be freely placed at the opening of the first arc A.
Referring to fig. 1-7 together, fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of a photoacoustic signal collecting apparatus according to the present application, and as shown in the drawing, in order to obtain a three-dimensional detection signal of a target to be detected, the photoacoustic signal collecting apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment further includes a scanning platform 140 and a driver 150, wherein the optical fiber bundle clamping assembly 1134 and the ultrasonic transduction assembly 120 are disposed on the scanning platform 140, and the scanning platform 140 is used for moving and driving the optical fiber bundle clamping assembly 1134 and the ultrasonic transduction assembly 120 to scan the target to be detected. It should be noted that the present embodiment is further extended based on the photoacoustic signal acquiring apparatus 100 provided in the previous embodiment, so all the technical means of the previous embodiment are applicable to the present embodiment, and will not be described in detail later.
The driver 150 is configured to receive an external control signal to drive the scanning platform 140, so that the scanning platform 140 can drive the fiber bundle clamping assembly 1134 and the ultrasonic transduction assembly 120 to move in any direction to perform comprehensive detection on the target to be detected.
Optionally, the ultrasonic transducer assembly 120 may further include a carrier plate (not shown), on which the plurality of ultrasonic transducers 121 are disposed, and one side of the carrier plate and one side of the clamping plate 11341 are respectively fixed on the scan platform 140. Specifically, the plane of the clamping plate 11341 and the plane of the ultrasonic transducer assembly 120 are perpendicular to the plane of the scanning platform 140, and the plane of the fiber bundle clamping assembly 1134 and the plane of the ultrasonic transducer assembly 120 do not overlap.
In this embodiment, since each second optical fiber bundle 1133 includes a plurality of optical fibers, each optical fiber includes a light outlet, and the light outlets of the optical fibers are used for emitting laser light to the surface of the object to be detected, the light outlets of the plurality of optical fibers in each second optical fiber bundle 1133 are located on a straight line. In addition, each clamping member 11341 correspondingly clamps an enclosure 1135 containing a second fiber bundle 1133. The plurality of clamping pieces 11341 are arranged in a second arc-shaped array B, the opening of the second arc-shaped array B faces the target to be detected, the plurality of clamping pieces 11342 are arranged on the clamping plate 11341, and each clamping piece 11342 and the clamping plate 11341 are arranged at a preset angle. Therefore, the laser light spots generated by the laser light emitted by the second optical fiber bundles 1133 clamped by the clamping pieces 11342 and irradiated to the surface of the object to be detected are also substantially located on the same straight line, so that the laser light spots emitted by all the optical fibers are located on the same straight line, and the photoacoustic signals of the object to be detected located near the straight line are comprehensively collected.
The scanning platform 140 can drive the ultrasonic transduction assembly 120 and the optical fiber bundle clamping assembly 1134 to move so as to scan the target to be detected, so that the photoacoustic signal acquisition apparatus 100 provided by the embodiment can comprehensively acquire the three-dimensional photoacoustic signal of the target to be detected.
In a specific implementation manner, the photoacoustic signal collecting apparatus 100 provided in this embodiment may further include a water tank (not shown), where the photoacoustic signal collecting apparatus 100 is filled with a transparent liquid for transmitting the photoacoustic signal before detecting the target to be detected, and water is generally used as a transmission medium.
Specifically, the scanning platform 140 is disposed in the water tank, and when the target to be detected is detected, the target to be detected is placed at a corresponding position of the water tank, and the optical fiber bundle clamping assembly 1134 and the ultrasonic transduction assembly 120 on the scanning platform 140 scan the target to be detected along with the movement of the scanning platform 140. In this way, it is possible to utilize water in the water tank as the photoacoustic couplant, and when an object to be detected is excited and irradiated by the pulse laser light to generate a photoacoustic signal, the photoacoustic signal propagates in the water tank.
The signal collector 130 is connected to the ultrasonic transducer assembly 120, and is used for collecting photoacoustic signals.
In this embodiment, the signal collector 130 may be, for example, a multi-channel data collection card, where the multi-channel data collection card collects an electrical signal sent by the ultrasonic transducer assembly 120 and sends the electrical signal to an external device, and the external device may be a device with an image processing function.
The photoacoustic signal collecting apparatus 100 provided in this embodiment can collect a photoacoustic signal generated by transmitting laser light to a target to be detected by using an ultrasonic transduction assembly 120 composed of a plurality of ultrasonic transducers 121 in a first arc a. The defect that the traditional annular ultrasonic transducer needs to be provided with a detection target to penetrate through the annular ultrasonic transducer so as to acquire photoacoustic signals can be avoided. That is, since the first arc a formed by the plurality of ultrasonic transducers 121 is not a closed ring, the object to be detected only needs to be disposed at the opening of the first arc a, so that the size of the object to be detected is not limited, the range of imaging the object to be detected can be widened, the object to be detected can be imaged more comfortably, and the user experience is improved.
Referring to fig. 8, fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a photoacoustic signal acquiring apparatus according to another embodiment of the present application. As shown in figure 8 of the drawings,
The inventor of the present application has found through long-term research that when the traditional photoacoustic signal collecting device works, the laser emits laser light, and at the same time, the internal clock emits a trigger signal to synchronize the signal collector to collect data, but a microsecond time difference exists between the actual light emitting time and the emitted trigger signal, and the time difference and the instability thereof exist, so that the collected photoacoustic signal has a dislocation phenomenon, and finally, the photoacoustic image of the target to be detected reconstructed by the external device is dislocated.
Based on this, the photoacoustic signal acquiring apparatus 100 provided in the present embodiment transmits a synchronization trigger signal to the laser 111, which triggers the laser 110 to transmit pulse laser light, while the photoacoustic signal is acquired by the signal acquirer 130. Because the propagation speed of light is extremely fast, accurate time sequence synchronization of photoacoustic signal acquisition and laser excitation can be realized. In this way, the signal collector 130 can be made to collect all photoacoustic signals of the target to be detected. Thereby improving the accuracy of the photoacoustic signal acquiring apparatus 100.
It should be noted that the present embodiment is further extended on the basis of the photoacoustic signal acquiring apparatus 100 provided in all the foregoing embodiments, so all the technical means of the foregoing embodiments are applicable to the present embodiment, and will not be repeated in the following.
Referring to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of a photoacoustic imaging system according to the present application, as shown in fig. 9, the photoacoustic imaging system 1000 includes a photoacoustic signal collecting device 100 and a host computer 200 in any of the above embodiments, wherein the host computer 200 is connected to the photoacoustic signal collecting device 100, and is used for receiving and processing photoacoustic signals.
The upper computer 200 is a terminal device such as a computer or tablet that can load or write programs. In this embodiment, the upper computer 200 is a high-performance computer, and a written reconstruction algorithm system is built in the upper computer 200. By the system, the electric signals acquired by the photoacoustic signal acquisition device 100 can be efficiently and high-quality recovered and the image of the place can be reconstructed, so that clear image information of the target to be detected can be rapidly and accurately obtained.
Specifically, the upper computer 200 is connected to a signal collector of the photoacoustic signal collecting apparatus 100, and receives an electrical signal transmitted by the signal collector.
In summary, the photoacoustic signal acquisition device provided in this embodiment can acquire a photoacoustic signal generated by transmitting laser to a target to be detected by using an ultrasonic transduction component formed by forming a first arc by a plurality of ultrasonic transducers. The defect that the traditional annular ultrasonic transducer needs to be provided with a detection target to penetrate through the annular ultrasonic transducer so as to acquire photoacoustic signals can be avoided. That is, because the first arc that a plurality of ultrasonic transducers constitute is but not confined annular, wait to detect the target only need set up in first arc opening part can, consequently can not cause waiting to detect the restriction of target size, and then can widen the formation of image and wait to detect the scope of target, can also make waiting to detect the target more comfortable formation of image, improve user experience.
The present application is not limited to the above embodiments, and any person skilled in the art will recognize that the modifications and substitutions are within the scope of the application disclosed in the present application, and the scope of the application is defined by the claims.
Furthermore, in the description herein, reference to the terms "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "examples," "specific examples," or "some examples," etc., means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. In this specification, schematic representations of the above terms are not necessarily directed to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. Furthermore, the different embodiments or examples described in this specification and the features of the different embodiments or examples may be combined and combined by those skilled in the art without contradiction.