In this paper, we investigate the effects of the relative size and arrangement of a virtual transducer on the image quality in limited-view photoacoustic tomography. A virtual transducer refers to the acoustic scatterers used to reflect photoacoustic waves and improve the images reconstructed from incomplete PA signal. Size and spatial arrangement determine the performance of the virtual transducer. In this study, the scatterers utilized as virtual transducers are arranged in different manners, such as on a straight line or on an arc line. We find that virtual transducers with a big distributing angle can provide more significant image improvement than with a small distributing angle, which is similar to the true transducers. We also change the size of virtual transducer and study its influence on image quality. It is found that the bigger scatterers provide better images than the smaller ones. Especially, when the size of scatterers is reduced to the wavelength of photoacoustic wave, the image quality observably decreases, owing to the strong diffraction effect. Thus, it is suggested that the size of the acoustical scatterers should be much larger than the photoacoustic wavelength. The simulations are conducted, and the results could be helpful for the application and further study of virtual transducer theory in limited-view photoacoustic tomography.
The influences of polarization direction, incidence angle, and geometry on near-field enhancements in two-layered gold nanowires (TGNWs) have been investigated by using the vector wave function method. When the polarization direction is perpendicular to the incidence plane, the local field factor (LFF) in TGNW decreases first and then increases with the increase in the incidence angle. The minimum LFF is observed at an incidence angle of 41°. It is found that the increase in the dielectric constant of the inner core leads to a decrease in the LFF. With the increase in the inner core radius, the LFF in TGNW increases first and then decreases, and the maximum LFF is observed at an inner core radius of 27 nm. On the other hand, when the polarization direction is parallel to the incidence plane, the collective motions of the induced electrons are enhanced gradually with the decrease in the incidence angle, and hence the near-field enhancement is increased.
