目前光声成像中用于探测超声波的主流器件是基于压电材料的超声换能器，考虑到这类换能器的探测性能随器件尺寸的减小而大幅下降，科研者们近年来开始逐渐关注于小型化光学超声传感器的研究与开发。相较于传统的压电超声换能器，这些小型化的光学超声传感器通常具备较宽的探测带宽和与尺寸几乎无关的高灵敏度，在推动更深和更高分辨率的光声成像方面展现出了巨大的潜力。本文首先对光学超声传感器的发展历程进行了简要回顾，然后比较了3种重要的小型化光学超声传感器以及并行寻址的方法，其次介绍了这些传感器在光声活体成像方面的应用进展，最后展望了光学超声传感器的未来前景。

Most of the existing photoacoustic imaging systems detect ultrasound signals using piezoelectric transducers. As the performance of these transducers largely degrades with decreasing size, optical ultrasound sensors have recently attracted growing interest. Unlike piezoelectric transducers, miniaturized optical ultrasound sensors typically provide a wide bandwidth and high sensitivity almost independent of size. Therefore, they can potentially realize deeper and higher-resolution photoacoustic imaging than the existing systems. This article reviews recent developments in miniaturized optical ultrasound sensors and briefly compares three types of miniaturized optical ultrasound sensors and methods of parallel interrogation. We also introduce some recent biomedical demonstrations of photoacoustic imaging using optical ultrasound sensors. Finally, the article discusses future research and development trends in optical ultrasound sensors.