A method of reflection artifact reduction in photoacoustic or thermoacoustic imaging comprises generating an object image of an object by causing a radiation emitting device to emit an electromagnetic radiation and causing an acoustic receiver to detect an acoustic response. A high intensity region is determined in the object image, said high intensity region corresponding to a radiation absorbing region within the object. An artifact detection image is generated by causing an acoustic transmitter to emit a focused ultrasound beam based on a location of the radiation absorbing region and causing an acoustic receiver to detect an acoustic reflected signal. The object image is corrected based on the artifact detection image.
