Photoacoustics

Photoacoustics, also named “optoacoustics”, can be broadly defined as the science of light-to-pressure conversion and its applications. The first observations on the generation of sound when modulated light is absorbed by a material were reported, and patented, by Alexander Bell in 1880, who created a device he called the “photophone”. The availability of pulsed lasers, the fabrication of sensitive pressure sensors and the development of materials that efficiently convert pulsed laser light into broadband and high-intensity photoacoustic waves, transformed the field and motivated the use of photoacoustics in countless systems and applications.

The extraordinary advances in biomedical imaging achieved by Photoacoustic Tomography (PAT) re-centred the field of Photoacoustics in imaging. We can expect that PAT will become an indispensable tool in medical imaging with the same status as other tools such as MRI, PET or CT, but this does not exhaust the possibilities of the field. In Life and Health sciences, Photoacoustics is poised to transform microscopic and mesoscopic imaging, to combine anatomical and functional imaging and, eventually, to evolve from an imaging to an interventional technology.

Photoacoustics also plays increasingly important roles in non-destructive analysis and sensing. LaserLab Europe partners are driving developments of photoacoustics to new areas, such as in inducing chemical reactions, modifying the properties of materials, focusing or stacking to obtain extreme photoacoustic pressures to trigger changes inside materials, with spacial-temporal control

For additional information on the Expert Group, please contact Luis Arnaut (CLL).

• Lund University, Lund, Sweden
• Politecnico di Bari, Bari, Italy
• Université de Rennes, Rennes, France
• University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada