Current Updates on Photoacoustic-Based Techniques for Breast Cancer Diagnosis

With the increasing incidence of breast cancer among women, the latest effective screening methods, like photoacoustic-based assessments, are in demand to address the shortcomings of standard techniques. The photoacoustic signal is a photon-induced acoustic signal applied to obtain biochemical information about a sample or construct images. The biochemical information of a sample can be mapped by scanning the wavelength region and capturing the corresponding photoacoustic absorption of the molecules in the sample. On the other hand, photoacoustic imaging provides high-resolution and high-contrast images of a specimen under study with suitable excitation. Recently, photoacoustic-based modalities, including imaging, microscopy, and spectroscopy, have shown tremendous advancements in the biomedical field, specifically regarding their instruments’ features to assess sample status non-invasively. This chapter summarizes these instruments’ design, functionality, and applicability. Rectification of the challenges observed will undoubtedly lead to the practical and clinical utilization of these techniques as an effective tool in early screening and monitoring breast cancer.