Multibeam fluorescence diffuse optical tomography using upconverting nanoparticles.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Imaging
• Optical Physics
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Fluorescence diffuse optical tomography (FDOT) enables localization and quantification of fluorescent molecules in turbid media.
• Reconstruction quality in FDOT is constrained by boundary measurement information, often increased by more excitation positions.
• Finite excitation beam size limits the number of excitation positions in conventional FDOT systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an advanced FDOT method that overcomes limitations in excitation positions.
• To enhance information acquisition in FDOT by exploiting nonlinear properties of nanoparticles.
• To improve the accuracy of fluorescent molecule localization and quantification in biomedical imaging.

Main Methods:

• Utilized upconverting nanoparticles with unique nonlinear power dependence.
• Implemented a raster-scanning setup with simultaneous dual-beam excitation.
• Acquired additional boundary measurements by combining two excitation beams.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated a method to increase information content in FDOT beyond conventional limits.
• Showcased the exploitation of nonlinear power dependence for enhanced data acquisition.
• Achieved more accurate reconstructions in FDOT using the novel dual-beam excitation approach.

Conclusions:

• The proposed dual-beam excitation method effectively increases information in FDOT systems.
• Exploiting nanoparticle nonlinearities offers a pathway to improved FDOT performance.
• This technique holds potential for more precise biomedical imaging and molecular quantification.