Photoacoustic imaging uses the photoacoustic effect where pulsed or modulated light absorbed by a material sample causes a temperature increase and the expansion and contraction of the sample, generating ultrasonic pressure waves that are detected by transducers. Photoacoustic computed tomography reconstructs images from ultrasound wave data acquired by transducers as a laser illuminates a sample, while photoacoustic microscopy focuses a laser on and scans a sample in two dimensions. Applications include detecting brain lesions, monitoring hemodynamics, detecting prostate cancer, and endoscopy of the gastrointestinal tract.