Figure 1.
Left: Schematic of the experimental set-up. A two-axis galvo-mirror and lens are used to focus and arbitrarily steer laser light onto a small area of the proximal end of a coherent fibre bundle. The fibre bundle transports the focussed light to the corresponding area of an optically absorbing coating deposited at its distal end, where ultrasound is generated photoacoustically. Acoustic pulse-echo signals are recorded using a fibre-optic receiver. Right: Micro- and macroscopic photographs of the coated, distal end of the fibre bundle. The coordinate system used throughout this study is indicated. The ultrasound-generating area is limited by the inner dotted circle; the outer circle delineates the outer edge of the fibre bundle.