Total light approach of time-domain fluorescence diffuse optical tomography

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Medical Imaging
• Fluorescence Tomography

Background:

• Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is a non-invasive imaging technique.
• Fluorescence DOT (fDOT) enhances contrast by targeting specific molecules.
• Accurate reconstruction of optical properties and fluorophore distribution is crucial for fDOT.

Purpose of the Study:

• To numerically investigate time-domain fluorescence diffuse optical tomography (TD-fDOT) using a novel "total light" approach.
• To assess the efficiency and accuracy of the total light method for reconstructing absorption coefficients and fluorophore concentrations.
• To compare the computational speed of the total light approach against conventional methods.

Main Methods:

• A 2D numerical model simulating biological tissue with fluorophores was used.
• Time-resolved excitation and total light data were simulated.
• The "total light" was defined as excitation light plus zero-lifetime emission light (divided by quantum yield).
• Zero-lifetime emission light was calculated via deconvolution of measured emission light and fluorescence decay functions.
• The inverse problem was solved using mean time of flight as the key data type.

Main Results:

• The total light approach enabled simultaneous reconstruction of absorption coefficient and fluorophore concentration.
• Reconstructed images of fluorophore concentration demonstrated good quantitative accuracy and spatial reproducibility.
• The total light method significantly reduced computation time compared to conventional TD-fDOT techniques.

Conclusions:

• The total light approach is an efficient and accurate method for TD-fDOT.
• This method holds promise for faster and more effective biological tissue imaging.
• The findings suggest potential for improved clinical applications of fluorescence diffuse optical tomography.