High-throughput photoacoustic tomography by integrated robotics and automation

We present the development of a photoacoustic tomography (PAT) imaging system with the demonstrated capability of obtaining high-throughput scans at a sustained rate of under 1 minute per animal using integrated robotics to assist in 3D PAT collection. This is a considerable achievement as there is currently no existing commercial or research PAT whole-body imaging system capable of high-throughput applications (15-20 animals per hour). High-throughput experimentation is imperative in the development, characterization, and use of rodent models of human diseases as it increases the number of animals that can be evaluated within a single experiment and may reduce the time under anesthesia for each animal, thereby improving the stability, duration, and confidence of longitudinal studies The developed system features coordinated automation for robotic animal manipulation, anesthesia distribution, temperature regulation, water management, laser excitation, and photoacoustic detection. Furthermore, as shown in validation studies using phantoms and live murine models, the prototype imaging platform demonstrates high-throughput performance while retaining high sensitivity and high resolution.