Metastasis frequently occurs even in the early stage of breast cancer. This research studied the feasibility of using photoacoustic (PA) imaging for identifying metastasis in the lymph vessels of mice. The photoacoustic efficiency of various contrast agents was investigated, and the influence of scattered light was evaluated by using a lymph vessel phantom. The lymph vessels of mice were then visualized using the selected contrast agents: indocyanine green (ICG) and gold nanorods (AuNR). The attenuation of the PA imaging was −1.90 dB/mm, whereas that of the fluorescence imaging was −4.45 dB/mm. The results indicate the potential of identifying sentinel lymph nodes by using PA imaging with these contrast agents.

Photoacoustic (PA) imaging is a promising imaging modality to visualize specific living tissues based on the light absorption coefficients without dyeing. In this paper, a real-time PA imaging system with a tunable laser was newly developed with an originally designed spherically curved array transducer. Five different series of experiments were conducted to validate the PA measurement system. The peak frequency of the transducer response was 17.7 MHz, and a volume-imaging rate of 3-D volume imaging was 10-20 volumes per second. The spatial resolution of imaging was 90- [Formula: see text] along both the axial and lateral directions. The developed imaging system could measure a difference on an absorption coefficient of gold nanorods. Additionally, the PA imaging could visualize the in vivo microvasculatures of a human hand. This PA imaging system with higher spatial-temporal resolution and the tunable laser further should enhance our understanding of not only basic properties of the photo acoustics but also clinical applications.

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Fluctuation during quiet standing of a person is one of the evaluation indexes of aging. Usually, fluctuation is measured by the center of the subject’s weight distribution on the floor, which is called center-of-pressure (COP), or the two dimensional trajectory of the top of the head taken from above the subject. In both cases, common evaluation indexes are standard deviation or maximum deviation. Control models of human quiet standing have been proposed and studied, and now it is widely accepted that human quiet standing is a nonlinear control system. However, there is no established nonlinear control model that expresses the characteristics of human quiet standing accurately. If we could express the nonlinear control dynamics of human quiet standing, the parameters of the control model can be utilized to evaluate subject’s motor control ability in more detail. In this study, we modeled the human body as a two link inverted pendulum. Leaning angle of the lower body and the upper body, and COP were measured in the experiment. Analysis of the data has revealed an asymmetry in the ankle joint torque in the anterior-posterior postural control. This asymmetry was modeled by asymmetric feedback gains of the feedback loop of ankle joint control. The proposed nonlinear model was verified by comparing the simulation results and the experimental data.