Quantitative photoacoustic tomography based on the radiative transfer equation

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Medical Imaging
• Computational Physics

Background:

• Quantitative photoacoustic tomography (PAT) is crucial for non-invasive tissue characterization.
• Existing PAT methods often rely on the photon diffusion approximation, which can limit accuracy in highly scattering or absorbing media.
• Accurate recovery of optical properties, like absorption coefficients, is essential for diagnostic applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel quantitative photoacoustic tomography method.
• To improve image reconstruction accuracy, particularly in scenarios where the diffusion approximation is inadequate.
• To enable precise quantification of optical properties in heterogeneous biological tissues.

Main Methods:

• Coupling the radiative transfer equation (RTE) with the Helmholtz photoacoustic wave equation.
• Developing a finite element-based reconstruction algorithm for the coupled model.
• Validating the method through experiments using tissue-like phantoms with known optical properties.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated accurate recovery of absolute absorption coefficient images.
• Achieved significantly improved image reconstruction compared to methods relying on diffusion approximations.
• Successfully validated the RTE-based PAT method in controlled phantom studies.

Conclusions:

• The proposed RTE-based quantitative PAT method offers a robust approach for accurate optical property imaging.
• This technique overcomes limitations of diffusion approximations, enhancing diagnostic potential in biomedical imaging.
• The validated method provides a foundation for advanced quantitative photoacoustic tomography applications.