Selection of optimal wavelengths for spectral reconstruction in diffuse optical tomography

Using lasers with different wavelengths in diffuse optical tomography (spectral DOT) has the advantage that the concentrations of chromophores can be reconstructed quantitatively. In continuous wave spectral DOT, it is furthermore possible to distinguish between scattering and absorption. The choice of the laser wavelengths has a strong impact on how well the scattering parameter and chromophore concentrations can be determined. Current methods to optimize the set of wavelengths disregard the sensitivity of the reconstruction result to uncertainties in the absorption spectra of the chromophores. But since available absorption spectra show significant deviations, it seems to be necessary to take this into account. The wavelength optimization approach presented here is an extension to a method of Corlu et al. The original method optimizes the wavelength sets such that scattering parameters and chromophore concentrations can be separated optimally. We introduce an additional criterion that evaluates the dependence of reconstructed chromophore concentrations on deviations of the extinction coefficients. The wavelength sets found by the new approach are different from those determined with the original method. Reconstructions of simulated data show the effect of using various absorption spectra for reconstruction with different wavelength sets and illustrate the advantages of the new wavelength sets.