Time-domain diffuse optical imaging technique for monitoring rheumatoid arthritis disease activity: theoretical development and in silico validation

S Ioussoufovitch ¹, M Diop ^1,2,3

⁰School of Biomedical Engineering, Western University and Collaborative Training Program in Musculoskeletal Health Research, Bone & Joint Institute, Western University, 1151 Richmond St., London, Canada.

Physics in Medicine and Biology +

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June 3, 2024

View abstract on PubMed

Summary

New time-domain diffuse optical imaging (TD-DOI) features show higher sensitivity to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity. This technique may enable earlier detection of RA treatment failure, improving patient outcomes.

Area Of Science

Biomedical Optics
Medical Imaging
Rheumatology

Background

Effective early treatment within 3-5 months of onset significantly improves rheumatoid arthritis (RA) prognosis.
Treatment failure occurs in one-third of RA patients and takes 3-6 months to detect with current methods.
Early detection of treatment failure is crucial for timely intervention and improved patient prognosis.

Purpose Of The Study

To develop a method for extracting quantitative features from time-domain diffuse optical imaging (TD-DOI) data.
To demonstrate the sensitivity of these features to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity.
To explore TD-DOI's potential for earlier detection of RA treatment failure.

Main Methods

Creation of 80 virtual phantoms simulating RA-induced joint alterations based on MRI data.
Generation of TD-DOI images using Monte Carlo simulations with added Poisson noise.
Extraction and correlation of spatiotemporal features (e.g., Fourier components) with disease index, correcting for instrument response function (IRF).

Main Results

Spatiotemporal Fourier components of TD-DOI images strongly correlated with disease index, even with noise and IRF effects.
Lower temporal frequency components (≤0.4 GHz) showed greater sensitivity to minor disease activity changes than previous spatial features.
The developed method demonstrated potential for quantitative assessment of RA disease activity.

Conclusions

Spatiotemporal components derived from TD-DOI show enhanced sensitivity to RA disease activity compared to existing DOI features.
TD-DOI holds promise for earlier identification of RA treatment failure.
This advancement could significantly reduce diagnosis time and improve overall patient prognosis in RA management.

Keywords:

Monte Carlo simulation diffuse optical imaging near-infrared rheumatoid arthritis time-domain