Solid tumors are typically supplied nutrients by a network of irregular blood vessels. By targeting these vascular networks, it might be possible to hinder cancer growth and metastasis. Vascular disrupting agents induce intertumoral hemorrhaging, making photoacoustic (PA) imaging well positioned to detect bleeding due to its sensitivity to hemoglobin and its various states. We introduce a fractal-based numerical model of intertumoral hemorrhaging to simulate the PA signals from disrupted tumor blood vessels. The fractal model uses bifurcated cylinders to represent vascular trees. To mimic bleeding from blood vessels, hemoglobin diffusion from microvessels was simulated. In the simulations, the PA signals were detected by a linear array transducer (30 MHz center frequency) of four different vascular trees. The power spectrum of each beamformed PA signal was computed and fitted to a straight line within the −6-dB bandwidth of the receiving transducer. The spectral slope and midband fit (MBF) based on the fit decreased by 0.11 dB / MHz and 2.12 dB, respectively, 1 h post bleeding, while the
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