# Software-defined Optoacoustic Tomography

**Authors:** Roberto Insabella, Martin Gonzalez, Lucas Riobo, Klaus Hass, Francisco Veiras  
**arXiv:** [2305.05537](https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.05537)  
**Date:** 2023-05-04  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/paper/2305.05537v1/

## Key points

- Optoacoustic tomography (OAT) has advanced significantly in recent years
- A novel approach to OAT using software-defined optoelectronics (SDO) is presented
- SDO allows for adaptive instrumentation systems that take advantage of the flexibility of software-defined hardware platforms
- An OAT system based on a heterodyne interferometer in a Mach-Zehnder configuration and a commercial software-defined radio platform (SDR) is implemented
- The SDR serves as both a function generator and oscilloscope, providing perfect carrier synchronization between its transmitter and receiver in a coherent baseband modulator scheme
- Carrier synchronization enables much better phase recovery, leading to improved image quality
- The SDO-OAT system produces high-quality images with excellent resolution and contrast
- The approach is highly adaptable, allowing for easy modification or extension to other imaging modalities

## Summary

The field of optoacoustic tomography (OAT) has seen significant advancements in recent years. In this work, the authors present a novel approach to OAT using software-defined optoelectronics (SDO). SDO refers to systems where the conditioning and processing of optical and electrical signals are digitally implemented and controlled by software. This allows for adaptive instrumentation systems that take advantage of the flexibility of software-defined hardware platforms. The authors implement an OAT system based on a heterodyne interferometer in a Mach-Zehnder configuration and a commercial software-defined radio platform (SDR). The SDR serves as both a function generator and oscilloscope, providing perfect carrier synchronization between its transmitter and receiver in a coherent baseband modulator scheme. This carrier synchronization enables much better phase recovery, leading to improved image quality. To test the performance of their SDO-OAT system, the authors use different bidimensional phantoms and analyze the reconstructed images. They find that their system produces high-quality images with excellent resolution and contrast. Furthermore, they note that their approach is highly adaptable, allowing for easy modification or extension to other imaging modalities. Overall, this work represents an exciting advancement in OAT technology through the application of SDO principles. The results demonstrate the potential for improved imaging capabilities using flexible software-defined hardware platforms.