Fluorescence diffuse optical tomographic (fDOT) system for small animal studies

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Medical Imaging
• Optical Tomography

Background:

• Fluorescence diffuse optical tomography (fDOT) is crucial for in vivo imaging.
• Imaging in heterogeneous and highly attenuating tissues presents significant challenges.
• Current methods often require sample immersion in index-matching fluids.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel fDOT system and reconstruction algorithm.
• To enable fluorescence yield reconstruction in complex biological tissues.
• To facilitate small animal imaging without immersion media.

Main Methods:

• Development of a new fDOT system.
• Implementation of an advanced reconstruction algorithm for heterogeneous media.
• Phantom studies for system characterization and validation.
• In vivo mice study focusing on lung tumor development.

Main Results:

• The fDOT system successfully reconstructs fluorescence yield in heterogeneous and attenuating regions.
• The method allows for mouse imaging without optical index matching liquid (Intralipid and ink).
• Phantom experiments validated the system's performance in complex media.
• A mice study demonstrated effective follow-up of lung tumor development.

Conclusions:

• The developed fDOT system and reconstruction method are effective for imaging challenging biological tissues.
• The system eliminates the need for immersion media, simplifying small animal studies.
• This technology is validated for biological applications, particularly in tracking tumor progression in vivo.