Mesh-based Monte Carlo method in time-domain widefield fluorescence molecular tomography

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Medical Imaging
• Computational Science

Background:

• Widefield time-gated fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) is crucial for preclinical research.
• Accurate photon transport modeling and shape discretization are key challenges in FMT.
• Existing methods may face limitations in computational efficiency and accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the mesh-based Monte Carlo (MC) method for widefield time-gated FMT.
• To enhance accuracy in shape discretization and photon transport modeling.
• To develop a computationally efficient software platform for FMT.

Main Methods:

• Developed an optimized mesh-based Monte Carlo (mMC) software platform.
• Utilized multithreading and distributed parallel computing for efficient calculations.
• Validated the algorithm and software through simulations and in vivo studies.

Main Results:

• The optimized mMC method demonstrated improved accuracy in FMT.
• The software platform achieved efficient computation in terms of time and memory.
• Successful validation was confirmed via both simulated and experimental data.

Conclusions:

• The mesh-based Monte Carlo (mMC) method offers a computationally efficient solution for optical tomography.
• This approach enhances accuracy in preclinical FMT applications.
• The open-source mMC code is publicly available for broader research use.