The migration of photoacoustic (PA) imaging technology from bench top to bedside, long expected thanks to its potential as an alternative to MRI and CT scanning in early-stage cancer detection, continues to take shape.

Use of the technique in breast cancer screening has always been identified as a likely clinical success story – not least by PA pioneer Lihong Wang – as it could offer ways to improve upon the high levels of false-positive results or other uncertain conclusions that current testing methodologies can deliver.

Further proof of that suitability should come from a small-scale clinical trial carried out at the University of Florida, the initial findings of which have now been released. The study used a photoacoustic tomography (PAT) platform developed by the university and now licensed to a new company, Advanced fPAT Imaging Inc (AFPII).

Company CEO Michael Addley told Optics.org that the clinical trial had involved a modest group of between 20 and 25 patients. "This is a small proof-of-concept study, that has had amazing results," he said.

The trial used AFPII’s JBI-360 imaging system, a platform developed from the work of Huabei Jiang at the University of Florida and which employs a functional photoacoustic tomography – or fPAT – approach. In use, maps of total hemoglobin concentration (HbT) and oxygen saturation (O2%), two key indicators of the metabolic activity associated with cancerous and pre-cancerous tissues, are reconstructed using a finite element algorithm to give valuable information about tumor location and sizing.