Tech: laser-based 3D ultrasonic imaging

[dracodraconis]

A new ultrasound scanner uses a laser to "twang" cells (that's how the authors put it) into emitting an ultrasonic wave that is detected, a process referred to as photoacoustic tomography. The result is a high-resolution image of things like blood vessels. The sound is generated by a cell a when near-infrared laser warms it briefly, causing it to expand and contract and in doing so emitting an ultrasonic wave.