Three-way decision based reconstruction frame for fluorescence molecular tomography.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Imaging
• Optical Imaging
• Medical Physics

Background:

• Fluorescence Molecular Tomography (FMT) enables precise localization and quantification of fluorophores in vivo.
• FMT reconstruction is challenging due to inherent ill-posedness, limiting its accuracy.
• Existing methods struggle with precise target delineation and quantitative analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel reconstruction framework for FMT based on Three-Way Decisions (TWD).
• To address the ill-posed nature of FMT inverse problems.
• To improve the accuracy and reliability of fluorophore distribution reconstruction in FMT.

Main Methods:

• A two-stage reconstruction process utilizing the TWD strategy.
• Stage 1: Initial reconstruction across the entire region, followed by TWD classification into target, boundary, and background.
• Stage 2: Reconstruction within a permissible region (combined target and boundary) using TWD for final target identification.

Main Results:

• Numerical simulations demonstrated the feasibility of the TWD-based reconstruction frame.
• A real mouse experiment confirmed the potential of the proposed method.
• The TWD strategy successfully improved the performance of FMT reconstruction.

Conclusions:

• The proposed TWD reconstruction framework offers a viable solution for FMT's ill-posed inverse problem.
• This method enhances the accuracy of fluorophore localization and quantification.
• The TWD approach shows significant potential for advancing FMT applications in biological research.