Abstract:Early diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis can significantly reduce the risk of fractures. The imaging examinations of bone tissue′s physical structure and biochemical composition play an important role in the diagnosis of osteoporosis. In order to overcome the limitations of X-ray-based bone health examination techniques, such as ionizing radiation and inability to characterize the biochemical composition of bone tissue, this article designs an ultrasonic-photoacoustic multimodal imaging instrument. This instrument integrates a real-time wavelength-tunable laser, a multi-mode timing controller, an ultrasound data acquisition and controller, and a high-speed data exchange and transmission module. It utilizes time-division multiplexing and asynchronous imaging strategies to process ultrasound and photoacoustic signals in situ. By combining high-resolution imaging algorithms, it obtains ultrasonic-photoacoustic images of bone tissue. In vitro experiments of cancellous bone phantoms and bovine trabecular bone, as well as in vivo experiments of finger joints, demonstrate that the proposed ultrasonic-photoacoustic dual-mode imaging technology has potential application in the diagnosis of osteoporosis, laying a solid foundation for comprehensive clinical research on bone health evaluation.