Systems and methods for component separation in medical imaging

A system, comprising:

• an energy source configured to deliver electromagnetic energy to a volume comprising one or more acoustic targets;
• a probe with an outer surface to form a coupling interface between itself and a surface of the volume;
• one or more elements on the outer surface of the probe to produce a predictable wavefront pattern originating substantially at the coupling interface as a result of the delivered energy;
• and,
• an acoustic receiver to receive an acoustic return comprising direct acoustic return signals and secondary acoustic return signals, the secondary acoustic return signals comprising at least a portion of the predictable wavefront pattern that is scattered by the one or more acoustic targets;
• and,
• a processing subsystem configured to process the acoustic signal to separate the direct acoustic return signals from the secondary acoustic return signals by applying a received wavefront resulting from the predictable wavefront pattern.

A method, comprising:

• placing a surface of a probe proximate to a surface of a volume;
• delivering light from a light source to the volume, wherein a portion of the light from the light source is absorbed by patterns on the surface of the probe;
• receiving acoustic signals from the volume, wherein the received acoustic signals comprise probe acoustic backscatter (PAB) components of acoustic signal resulting from scattering of wavefronts produced by the patterns on the surface of the probe in response to absorbing the portion of the light;
• processing the received acoustic signals to identify a first PAB component that resulted due to scattering by a target at a first position in the volume, wherein a first acoustic front due to the patterns on the surface of the probe targeting the first position in the volume is distinguishably different from a second acoustic front due to the patterns on the surface of the probe targeting a second position in the volume, wherein a second PAB component of a target at the second position interferes with the first PAB component and wherein prediction of acoustic fronts due to the patterns on the surface of the probe reaching positions in the volume is used to identify the first PAB component;
• outputting an intensity of the first PAB component at the first position in the volume;
• and
• separating a direct acoustic return component from the acoustic signals based on the first PAB component.

A method, comprising:

• placing an opto-acoustic probe comprising a distal surface into contact with a surface of a volume to form a coupling interface, wherein the distal surface comprises a detector array;
• delivering energy to the volume;
• receiving acoustic signals comprising:
• a direct component due to acoustic return signals produced within the volume;
• and,
• a surface component due to an acoustic wavefront propagating substantially proximate to the distal surface where the wavefront reaches elements of the detector array in a sequence, wherein the surface component varies according to at least one parameter that is dependent on properties of the coupling interface or materials proximate thereto;
• processing the acoustic signals to determine the at least one parameter;
• separating the direct component based on the at least one parameter;
• forming an image using the acoustic signals that is spatially representative of the volume, wherein formation of the image is dependent on the direct component and the at least one parameter;
• and,
• outputting the image to a display.

A computer implemented method comprising:

• receiving a plurality of acoustic return signals at a transducer array, each signal received from a position proximate to an outer surface of a volume in response to delivery of electromagnetic energy to the volume;
• utilizing one or more processors for:
• applying a pattern detection classifier to each received signal to produce a plurality of classifier output signals, each classifier output signal is representative of an indicator strength as a function of time in each received signal;
• reconstructing a spatial representation of the volume from the plurality of classifier output signals;
• receiving a direct acoustic return component, at the transducer array, from the volume in response to delivery of electromagnetic energy to the volume;
• and,
• outputting an image based on the direct acoustic return component and the reconstructed spatial representation.

A computer implemented method for performing medical imaging, comprising:

• delivering light energy to a volume of tissue from a light source;
• receiving, at a transducer array, an acoustic signal in response to the delivery of light energy, the acoustic signal comprising at least a direct acoustic return component and a secondary acoustic return component, the secondary acoustic return component comprising an acoustic response that is substantially reflected or scattered before arriving at the transducer array;
• utilizing one or more processors to process the acoustic signal to separate the direct acoustic return component from the secondary acoustic return component of thereof by applying at least one of a simulation, reconstruction, point spread function, error calculation, or correction function to the acoustic signal;
• and,
• presenting information about at least one of the direct acoustic return component and the secondary acoustic return component.