On November 13, 2023, Professor Tian Chao from the University of Science and Technology of China was invited to conduct academic exchanges at the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and gave an academic report titled "Computational Photoacoustic Tomography". Photoacoustic imaging is a biomedical imaging technology that has developed rapidly in recent years. It utilizes the principle of energy conversion from light to sound and features non-invasiveness, high resolution, and high contrast. Compared with traditional imaging methods, photoacoustic imaging is based on the optical absorption characteristics of biological soft tissues. It combines the high contrast of optical imaging and the large penetration depth of ultrasonic imaging, and has the ability to perform microscopic imaging down to individual organelles and macroscopic imaging of entire organs and small animals. In addition, photoacoustic imaging can also provide information at multiple levels such as the structure, function, metabolism, molecules, and genetics of biological tissues, which is of great significance for research in fields such as cell biology, vascular biology, oncology, immunology, and ophthalmology. In the report, Professor Tian Chao introduced his recent research work in the physics of photoacoustic imaging and imaging algorithms. Firstly, he elaborated in detail on the basic principles and mechanisms of the photoacoustic effect, which is the core content of the physical research of photoacoustic imaging. Secondly, Professor Tian Chao explained the acoustic properties of biological tissues and the propagation laws of photoacoustic signals to better understand the mechanism of photoacoustic imaging. Finally, in the research on imaging algorithms, Professor Tian Chao described the methods for developing and improving photoacoustic image reconstruction and processing.

Professor Tian Chao communicated with the teachers and students of Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology

Personal Profile：Tian Chao is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the University of Science and Technology of China. He is the recipient of the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars, as well as talent projects of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Anhui Province. He received both his bachelor's and doctoral degrees in Optical Engineering from the College of Optical Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, and completed his postdoctoral research at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in the United States. He has been long engaged in research work related to biomedical photonics, photoacoustic imaging, medical ultrasound, and medical image processing. His research achievements have been published as the first/corresponding author in renowned journals in the field, and he has been granted multiple national invention patents. He has successively presided over a number of scientific research projects from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Anhui Province, etc. He serves as a senior member of the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE), the Optical Society of America (OSA), and the Chinese Optical Society (COS). He is also the Deputy Chairman of the Youth Committee of the Biomedical Photonics Branch of the Chinese Optical Society, a youth member of the Biomedical Photonics Branch of the Chinese Society of Biomedical Engineering, and a young editorial board member of journals such as Journal of Innovative Optical Health Sciences, Frontiers of Optoelectronics, and Chinese Lasers.