{"doi":"10.1117/1.bios.2.1.012502","title":"Impact of skin tone on target size detectability in photoacoustic breast imaging","abstract":"SignificancePhotoacoustic imaging has the potential to improve non-invasive breast cancer diagnosis. However, illumination through the skin introduces a skin tone bias, as greater melanin content increases optical absorption and can create acoustic clutter, reducing the visibility of various target sizes.AimWe investigate the impact of skin tone bias as a function of target sizes in three photoacoustic image reconstruction methods: fast Fourier transform (FFT)-based reconstruction, delay-and-sum (DAS) beamforming, and short-lag spatial coherence (SLSC) beamforming.MethodsThe three imaging methods were applied to channel data from multidomain simulations with 757, 800, and 1064 nm wavelengths, 11 target sizes (ranging 0.5 to 3 mm), 18 skin tones [ranging individual typology angles (ITAs), of –54 deg to 60 deg], and a previously validated realistic 3D breast model. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and generalized contrast-to-noise ratio (gCNR) were measured to assess visibility.ResultsWith 757 and 800 nm wavelengths, targets underlying dark skin tones (ITA range: −54 deg to −33 deg) with sizes ≤3 mm were poorly visible with ≤2.38 to 4.21 mean SNR and ≤0.46 to 0.74 mean gCNR, with smaller targets generally being more visible with lighter skin tones. A 1064-nm transmit wavelength improved visualization with DAS and SLSC beamforming, relative to both FFT reconstruction with a 1064 nm wavelength and DAS or SLSC beamforming with 757 and 800 nm wavelengths. When combined with SLSC beamforming, the 1064-nm wavelength offered the greatest improvements, enabling visualization of simulated target sizes ranging from 0.5 to 3 mm underlying very light (ITA = 60 deg) to dark (ITA=−54 deg) skin tones, with mean SNR ≤10.01 and mean gCNR ≤1. Visualization of simulated vessel structures derived from in vivo photoacoustic images was consistent with simulation-based target size expectations.ConclusionsResults are promising for advancing next-generation photoacoustic imaging systems for breast cancer diagnosis across the range of skin tones represented in healthcare systems throughout the world.","journal":"Biophotonics discovery.","year":2024,"id":458781,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":5,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9606,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2024-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1099486,"name":"Mardava R. Gubbi","orcid":"0000-0001-8222-3571","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":275807,"name":"Muyinatu A. Lediju Bell","orcid":"0000-0002-8394-4482","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1285581,"name":"Rhea Rasquinha","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":71,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:03:50.608887Z","pmid":"40969671","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}