This book, edited by the research and business development manager at Cyberdyne Inc., includes discussions of modern high-power pulsed LEDs and the fundamentals and applications of LED-based photoacoustic imaging (PAI). The contributed chapters, while of limited scope (for example, not including combining PAI with fluorescence spectroscopy), describe experimental and computational approaches to mitigate the limitations of LED-based PAI as compared with solid-state laser-based instruments. Clinical ultrasound techniques, such as transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiology and Doppler blood flow imaging, are not adequately described and compared with PAI.
The final chapter is an analysis of the challenges that impede the clinical validation and translation of the PAI technologies. The exploding translational success of alternative technologies such as OCT for ophthalmic diagnostics required several decades of clinical trials and interdisciplinary interaction among physicists, engineers and ophthalmologists. Correlative imaging with different techniques to objectively analyze artifacts and rigorous validation with pathological studies are necessary for a successful clinical transition.
Review by Barry R. Masters, Fellow of AAAS, OSA, and SPIE.
The opinions expressed in the book review section are those of the reviewer and do not necessarily reflect those of OPN or OSA.