ABSTRACT
Photoacoustic imaging (PAI), combining the advantages of optical excitation and of acoustic detection, has been widely used for both structural and functional imaging with scalable resolution and penetration in biological tissues. However, due to the strong light scattering in tissue, the maximum penetration depth of PAI, especially microscopy, is limited. Meanwhile, strong light scattering also introduces strong spatial resolution degradation along the depth direction in optical resolution PAI. As an effective method to reduce optical scattering, the optical clearing technique has been widely used in optical imaging modalities. In this chapter, the status of applying optical clearing in PAI is summarized. Examples of both optical resolution and acoustic resolution PAI are illustrated in detail. Future directions in the use of optical clearing in PAI are also discussed in this chapter.
