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The analysis of age-related changes in skin vessels based on optoacoustic angiographic images during the in vivo skin monitoring of healthy volunteers at different ages is reported. As a result of a quantitative analysis of the three-dimensional OA images, the age-associated differences in the following image parameters were revealed: image intensity, ratio of blood content at different characteristics depths, total vessel length, and number of branches. The reported approach can be effectively employed for automatic assessment and monitoring of age-related vascular changes in the skin and underlying tissues.

A dual-wavelength 532/1064 nm optoacoustic (OA) imaging system allows 3D visualizations of arteriovenous anastomoses (AVAs) with an acoustic spatial resolution (50 µm) at depths of up to 2 mm in vivo in rabbit ears. Both structural and spectral information from the OA data are employed to analyze the anatomical locations of the blood vessels and to distinguish between veins and arteries in the zone of their confluence. The OA monitoring of a rabbit ear under temperature-induced (43 °C/15 °C) shunting demonstrated the potential of the technique for the monitoring of functional arteriovenous anastomosis.