Photoacoustic Imaging of Tattoo Inks: Phantom and Clinical Evaluation
, Anurag K. Singh 3 and Mukund Seshadri 1,4,*Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The study "Photoacustic imaging of tattoo inks: phantom and clinical evaluation" by Bolookat et al provides intersting and very nicely presented data. The idea, the method and the mimicking phantom are important in dermatology in general, and more specifically in tattoo procedures.
The paper is suitable for publication as a Communication in Applied sciences.
Author Response
Thank you. We appreciate the favorable review of our work.
Reviewer 2 Report
The present study aims to examine the optoacoustic properties of commercially available tattoo inks in a tissue-mimicking phantom. The technique is quite novel and will be helpful for future clinical application. I have only several minor comments:
Line 70: The IRB number should be provided.
Line 78: The way of how the dye is applied on the wrist should be provided.
Line 79: Please emphasize that the transducer should be lightly placed on the skin surface.
In discussion, the benefits of ultrasound as a non-invasive imaging modality should be mentioned by referencing the following 2 articles: (1) Basis of Shoulder Nerve Entrapment Syndrome: An Ultrasonographic Study Exploring Factors Influencing Cross-Sectional Area of the Suprascapular Nerve. Front Neurol. 2018 (2) Association between metabolic syndrome and limb muscle quantity and quality in older adults: a pilot ultrasound study. Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2019
Author Response
The present study aims to examine the optoacoustic properties of commercially available tattoo inks in a tissue-mimicking phantom. The technique is quite novel and will be helpful for future clinical application. I have only several minor comments:
We thank the reviewer for the useful feedback. The manuscript has been revised as suggested by the reviewer.
Line 70: The IRB number should be provided.
The protocol number has now been included.
Line 78: The way of how the dye is applied on the wrist should be provided.
No dye was applied for the study. The images were acquired on an existing tattoo on the wrist of the volunteer. This has now been clarified.
Line 79: Please emphasize that the transducer should be lightly placed on the skin surface.
Thank you. We have now added a sentence regarding transducer placement.
In discussion, the benefits of ultrasound as a non-invasive imaging modality should be mentioned by referencing the following 2 articles:
(1) Basis of Shoulder Nerve Entrapment Syndrome: An Ultrasonographic Study Exploring Factors Influencing Cross-Sectional Area of the Suprascapular Nerve. Front Neurol. 2018
(2) Association between metabolic syndrome and limb muscle quantity and quality in older adults: a pilot ultrasound study. Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2019
Thank you. The above-mentioned references have been added to the discussion and cited in the revised manuscript.
Reviewer 3 Report
My suggestion is to provide more information about the "signal" presented in pseudocolors in Fig. 2a. It follows from Fig. 2b-d that the signal strength depends on wavelength. Then, which wavelength values do the pseudo-colored signal maps correspond to for a given ink sample? Moreover, allocation of the range of intensities to the color map in Fig. 2a would make comparisons less subjective. Is the same colormap used in Fig. 3?
Author Response
My suggestion is to provide more information about the "signal" presented in pseudocolors in Fig. 2a. It follows from Fig. 2b-d that the signal strength depends on wavelength. Then, which wavelength values do the pseudo-colored signal maps correspond to for a given ink sample? Moreover, allocation of the range of intensities to the color map in Fig. 2a would make comparisons less subjective. Is the same colormap used in Fig. 3?
Thank you for pointing these out. The reviewer’s point regarding the dependence of signal strength on the wavelength is well taken. The pseudo colorized map shown in Fig. 2a reflects signal strength at 680 nm from the spectra in which all the dyes had signal. The range for the color bar is arbitrary and primarily used for ease of visualization. However, to ensure consistency across the samples, the phantom images were matched for brightness and contrast prior to application of the color map. As stated in the figure legend, the image corresponds to 800 nm wavelength and therefore a different color map was used. However, the brightness and contrast values were matched for the image prior to application of the color map. These points have now been clarified in the revised manuscript. We have revised the manuscript to clarify these points.
