  Ultrasound modulated optical tomography (UOT) is a powerful imaging technique
to discriminate healthy from unhealthy biological tissues based on their
optical signature. Among the numerous detection techniques developed for
acousto-optic imaging, only those based on spectral filtering are intrinsically
immune to speckle decorrelation. This paper reports on UOT imaging based on
spectral hole burning in Tm:YAG crystal under a moderate magnetic field (200G)
with a well-defined orientation. The deep and long-lasting holes translate into
a more efficient UOT imaging with a higher contrast and faster imaging frame
rate. We demonstrate the potential of this method by imaging calibrated phantom
scattering gels.
