Real-time Triple-modal Photoacoustic, Ultrasound, and Magnetic Resonance Fusion Imaging of Humans

Imaging that fuses multiple modes has become a useful tool for diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring. As a next step, real-time fusion imaging has attracted interest as for a tool to guide surgery. One widespread fusion imaging technique in surgery combines real-time ultrasound (US) imaging and pre-acquired magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. However, US imaging visualizes only structural information with relatively low contrast. Here, we present a photoacoustic (PA), US, and MR fusion imaging system which integrates a clinical PA and US imaging system with an optical tracking-based navigation subsystem. Through co-registration of pre-acquired MR and real-time PA/US images, overlaid PA, US, and MR images can be concurrently displayed in real time. We successfully acquired fusion images from a phantom and a blood vessel in a human forearm. This fusion imaging can complementarily delineate the morphological and vascular structure of tissues with good contrast and sensitivity, has a well established user interface, and can be flexibly integrated with clinical environments. As a novel fusion imaging, the proposed triple-mode imaging can provide comprehensive image guidance in real time, and can potentially assist various surgeries.