When this newly developed photoacoustic imaging technique is applied to clinical practices, it can help diagnosis of diseases related to deep organs by producing images noninvasively and without a risk of explosion to radiation unlike other imaging methods that need radiations such as computed tomography (CT). Furthermore, lasers of 1,064 nm wavelength are comparatively economical, and can be used with other commercial ultrasound machines, which bring anticipation of its early clinical applications.

"Our research is the first example of imaging the deepest tissues in the body among all the research papers on photoacoustic imaging so far. It is very meaningful that it has taken a step further to clinical feasibility of photoacoustic imaging," said Prof. Chulhong Kim, the corresponding author of the paper.

This research was financially supported by ICT Consilience Creative Program of the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea Health Technology R&D Project funded by the Ministry of Health, and Welfare and the Pioneer Project sponsored by the National Research Foundation. Details and conclusions of this research was introduced as the cover story in the international journal of nanoparticle imaging diagnosis and treatment, Theranostics.

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