Optimized methodology for low-contrast fluorescence recovery using a new approach for reference tracer normalization

A main problem with tomographic fluorescence recovery is that it can only reliably recover images of high contrast to background ratio, which is a problematic issue when the fluorescent contrast in a region of interest is near a significant source of background contrast, such as organs of filtration. A method is presented here, combining the resolution of structural image guidance with the benefits of using multiple fluorescent tracers, one targeted to the tumor of interest and one untargeted, in order to substantially improve the accuracy of recovered contrast values for targeted tracer concentration. Using the normalized subtraction in the data space, the recovery of lower contrast regions can be dramatically improved by suppressing the effect of larger perturbations which appear in both the targeted and untargeted fluorescence data sets. This methodology has significant potential value when imaging near excretory organs such as liver, lung, kidneys and bladder, depending upon the agent to be imaged.