A method of noninvasively imaging tissue within a body includes irradiating the tissue using an imaging laser including a Raman-based laser tuner, the radiation including a plurality of laser pulses, each having energy greater than 100 mJ receiving an acoustic signal generated by vibrational energy in the tissue, wherein the vibrational energy is a result of selective overtone excitation of molecules in the tissue by the radiation and automatically converting the acoustic signal to an image representative of the tissue using a processor. An imaging system includes an imaging laser configured to irradiate tissue with a plurality of laser pulses using a Raman-based laser tuner. An ultrasonic transducer receives an acoustic signal generated by vibrational energy in the tissue due to overtone excitation by the radiation. A processor is configured to automatically produce an image representative of the tissue using the received acoustic signal.
