Abstract: A photoacoustic apparatus includes a light irradiation unit configured to irradiate a subject with light a plurality of times; a driving unit configured to move a supporting member so that relative positions of the supporting member and the subject differ at each of the plurality of times; a plurality of transducers configured to receive acoustic waves generated through the plurality of times of irradiation and output a plurality of groups of reception signals corresponding to the plurality of times of irradiation; the supporting member configured to support the transducers such that directional axes of at least some of the transducers converge; a first memory configured to store the groups of reception signals; and a processing unit configured to obtain subject information at a target position by assigning, to each of the groups of reception signals, a weight corresponding to relative positions of the supporting member and the target position.

Abstract: A photoacoustic apparatus according to the present invention includes a light source, a conversion element configured to receive photoacoustic waves generated from light from the light source irradiated to a subject and output a signal, a color information acquiring unit configured to acquire information regarding color on the subject, a coefficient information acquiring unit configured to acquire information regarding an optical coefficient of the subject corresponding to the information regarding color of the subject acquired by the color information acquiring unit, and a subject information acquiring unit configured to acquire subject information based on the signal output from the conversion element and the information regarding the optical coefficient acquired by the coefficient information acquiring unit.

Abstract: The present invention employs a photoacoustic apparatus including: a receiving unit that receives acoustic waves at a plurality of measurement positions and converts the acoustic waves to a plurality of time-series reception signals; and a processing unit that adjusts phases of the reception signals so that a phase pattern of a target signal among the reception signals corresponds to a specific spatial direction, reduces low-frequency components in the specific spatial direction from the reception signals of which the phases have been adjusted, and acquires characteristic information of an object based on the reception signals of which the low-frequency components have been reduced.

Abstract: A photoacoustic apparatus includes an emitting unit that emits light onto an object; a receiving unit that receives a photoacoustic wave generated from the object irradiated with the light and outputs a signal; a first calculating unit calculates, based on the signal, an initial sound pressure distribution in a first region; a control unit causes the initial sound pressure distribution to be displayed; an acquiring unit acquires first information on a second region, designated within a region of the initial sound pressure distribution, and based on the first information, second information on a third region; a second calculating unit that calculates, based on the first information, propagation of the light in the third region to calculate a light fluence distribution in the second region; and a third calculating unit calculates, based on the initial sound pressure distribution and the light fluence distribution, an object information distribution in the second region.

Abstract: A photoacoustic apparatus includes a light source; transducers that receives acoustic waves and outputs electric signals, the acoustic waves being generated when an object is irradiated with light generated from the light source; a support member that supports the transducers such that directivity axes of the transducers gather; a movement region setting unit that sets a movement region of the support member; a moving unit that moves the support member in the movement region such that relative position between the object and the support member changes; and an information acquiring unit that acquires object information based on the electric signals, wherein the light source emits the light when the support member is positioned in the movement region, and wherein the movement region setting unit acquires coordinate information about a surface of the object and determines the movement region based on the coordinate information.

Abstract: A photoacoustic apparatus according to the present invention includes an electrical stimulation unit configured to apply a voltage to a subject, and a processing unit configured to set a light irradiation timing such that the subject is irradiated with pulsed light at least once in a period from an irradiation start timing determined in accordance with an application start timing of the voltage to when a first time period starting from the application start timing and ending at an application end timing of the voltage passes, and to set the light irradiation timing such that the subject is not irradiated with pulsed light outside the period from the irradiation start timing to when the first time period passes.

Abstract: A photoacoustic apparatus according to the present invention includes an electrical stimulation unit configured to apply a voltage to a subject while light irradiation is being performed a plurality of times, and a processing unit configured to acquire, among a plurality of signals, subject information using at least part of signals corresponding to photoacoustic waves generated in a period from an extraction start timing determined in accordance with an application start timing of the voltage to when a first time period starting from the application start timing and ending at an application end timing of the voltage passes, while not using a signal corresponding to a photoacoustic wave generated outside the period from the extraction start timing to when the first time period passes.

Abstract: A photoacoustic apparatus sets a light irradiation timing such that a subject is irradiated with pulsed light at least once within a period extending from a start timing determined on the basis of a generation timing of an R-wave in an electrocardiogram signal to a point at which a first time extending from the generation timing of the R-wave in the electrocardiogram signal to a generation timing of a T-wave in the electrocardiogram signal elapses, and sets the light irradiation timing such that the subject is not irradiated with the pulsed light in a period outside the period extending from the start timing to a point at which the first time elapses.

Abstract: A photoacoustic apparatus includes a light irradiation unit configured to irradiate a subject with pulsed light a plurality of times, a reception unit configured to receive photoacoustic waves generated by the plurality of times of irradiation of the subject with the pulsed light from the light irradiation unit, and output a plurality of signals corresponding to the plurality of times of light irradiation, a blood information acquisition unit configured to acquire information on an amount of blood of the subject, and a subject information acquisition unit configured to acquire subject information of a target region in the subject based on the plurality of signals, wherein the subject information acquisition unit acquires the subject information based on a plurality of signals acquired in a common period in each of repeated cycles of fluctuation of the amount of blood.

Abstract: A photoacoustic apparatus disclosed herein includes a plurality of receiving elements which receive photoacoustic waves caused by irradiation of light from a light source to a subject and outputs reception signals and a signal data acquisition unit which generates and stores reception signal data by reducing a data amount of reception signals output from the plurality of receiving elements when a region where the directional axes of the plurality of receiving elements are gathered at a point is not included in a region of interest.