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Controlling light in scattering media non-invasively using the photoacoustic transmission matrix

Abstract

Optical wavefront shaping has emerged as a powerful tool for manipulating light in strongly scattering media. It enables diffraction-limited focusing and imaging at depths where conventional microscopy techniques fail. However, to date, most examples of wavefront shaping have relied on direct access to the targets or implanted probes, and the challenge is to apply it non-invasively inside complex samples. Recently, ultrasonic-tagging techniques have been utilized successfully, but these allow only small acoustically tagged volumes to be addressed at each measurement. Here, we introduce an approach that allows the non-invasive measurement of an optical transmission matrix over a large volume, inside complex samples, using a standard photoacoustic imaging set-up. We demonstrate the use of this matrix for detecting, localizing and selectively focusing light on absorbing targets through diffusive samples, as well as for extracting the scattering medium properties. Combining the transmission-matrix approach with the advantages of photoacoustic imaging opens a path towards deep-tissue imaging and light delivery utilizing endogenous optical contrast.

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Figure 1: Measuring a photoacoustic transmission matrix.
Figure 2: Selective focusing with the transmission matrix.
Figure 3: Revealing the memory effect from the measured transmission matrix.
Figure 4: Localizing absorbing targets by SVD of the transmission matrix.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank J. Gateau for fruitful discussions and for valuable comments on the manuscript, and D. Martina for technical support. This work was funded by the European Research Council (grant no. 278025) and by the Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes pour la Recherche (grant no. FPGG031). O.K. is supported by the Marie Curie Intra-European fellowship for career development (IEF) and a Rothschild fellowship.

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Contributions

S.G. and E.B. designed the initial experimental set-up. O.K. proposed the photoacoustic transmission matrix approach and analysis. S.G., E.B., T.C. and O.K. discussed the experimental implementation, T.C. and O.K. performed the experiments and analysed the results. S.G., E.B., T.C., O.K., A.C.B. and M.F. contributed to discussing the results and writing the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Gigan.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Chaigne, T., Katz, O., Boccara, A. et al. Controlling light in scattering media non-invasively using the photoacoustic transmission matrix. Nature Photon 8, 58–64 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2013.307

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