 Since that time, thermoacoustic imaging has gained widespread popularity in research institutions worldwide.As of 2008, three companies were developing commercial thermoacoustic imaging systems – Seno Medical, Endra, Inc. and OptoSonics, Inc.

Sound, which propagates as a pressure wave, can be induced in virtually any material, including biologic tissue, whenever time-varying electromagnetic energy is absorbed.The stimulating radiation that induces these thermally generated acoustic waves may lie anywhere in the electromagnetic spectrum, from high-energy ionizing particles to low-energy radio waves.