Sulfate phantoms to mimic NIR photoacoustic response of whole blood at selected oxygen saturations

This paper presents a practical guide to prepare inorganic solutions that mimic the photoacoustic properties of whole blood at specific levels of oxygenation in the range of 700-850 nm, both in terms of optical absorption properties and the Grüneisen coefficient. The goal is to provide aqueous solutions that can be injected in tissue-mimicking imaging phantoms to test the sensitivity and spectral capabilities of photoacoustic imaging systems operating at multiple wavelengths to estimate blood oxygenation.