Three-dimensional fluorescence enhanced optical tomography using referenced frequency-domain photon migration measurements at emission and excitation wavelengths.

The ultimate success of near-infrared optical tomography rests on the precise measurement of light propagation within tissues or random media, the accurate prediction of these measurements from a light propagation model, and an efficient three-dimensional solution of the inverse imaging problem. To date, optical tomography algorithms have focused on frequency-domain photon migration (FDPM) measurements of phase-delay and amplitude attenuation, which are reported relative to the incident light, even though phase-delay and amplitude of incident light are nearly impossible to measure directly. In this contribution, we examine referenced, fluorescence-enhanced frequency-domain photon migration measured at excitation and/or emission wavelengths and report on a measurement strategy to minimize measurement and calibration error for efficient coupling of data to a distorted Born iterative imaging algorithm. We examine three referencing approaches and develop associated inversion algorithms for (1) normalizing detected emission FDPM data to the predicted emission wave arising from a homogeneous medium, (2) referencing detected emission FDPM data to that detected at a reference point, and (3) referencing detected emission FDPM data to detected excitation FDPM data detected at a reference point. Our results show the latter approach to be practical while reducing the nonlinearity of the inverse problem. Finally, in light of our results, we demonstrate the method for eliminating the influence of source strength and instrument functions for effective fluorescence-enhanced optical tomography using FDPM.

[1]  D. Boas,et al.  Fluorescence lifetime imaging in turbid media. , 1996, Optics letters.

[2]  A G Yodh,et al.  Fluorescent heterogeneities in turbid media: limits for detection, characterization, and comparison with absorption. , 1998, Applied optics.

[3]  S. Colak,et al.  Clinical optical tomography and NIR spectroscopy for breast cancer detection , 1999 .

[4]  P M Schlag,et al.  Contrast features of breast cancer in frequency-domain laser scanning mammography. , 1998, Journal of biomedical optics.

[5]  K D Paulsen,et al.  Spectroscopic diffuse optical tomography for the quantitative assessment of hemoglobin concentration and oxygen saturation in breast tissue. , 1999, Applied optics.

[6]  J. S. Reynolds,et al.  Measurement of the fluorescence lifetime in scattering media by frequency-domain photon migration. , 1999, Applied optics.

[7]  L. O. Svaasand,et al.  Boundary conditions for the diffusion equation in radiative transfer. , 1994, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision.

[8]  E R Anderson,et al.  Frequency-domain photon migration measurements of normal and malignant tissue optical properties in a human subject. , 1997, Applied optics.

[9]  A. G. Yodh,et al.  The contribution of blood oxygenation changes in the capillary bed and a small blood vessel on the brain surface to NIRS signals. , 2000 .

[10]  Jenghwa Chang,et al.  Luminescence optical tomography of dense scattering media. , 1997, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision.

[11]  E. Sevick-Muraca,et al.  Fluorescence-enhanced absorption imaging using frequency-domain photon migration: tolerance to measurement error. , 2001, Journal of biomedical optics.

[12]  Murray H. Loew,et al.  Fluorescence measurement of localized deeply embedded physiological processes , 2000, Medical Imaging.

[13]  Israel Gannot,et al.  Inverse method 3-D reconstruction of localized in vivo fluorescence-application to Sjogren syndrome , 1999 .

[14]  S R Arridge,et al.  Three-dimensional time-resolved optical tomography of a conical breast phantom. , 2001, Applied optics.

[15]  S. Arridge.  Optical tomography in medical imaging , 1999 .

[16]  C. L. Hutchinson,et al.  Fluorescence and Absorption Contrast Mechanisms for Biomedical Optical Imaging Using Frequency‐Domain Techniques , 1997, Photochemistry and photobiology.

[17]  K D Paulsen,et al.  Three-dimensional simulation of near-infrared diffusion in tissue: boundary condition and geometry analysis for finite-element image reconstruction. , 2001, Applied optics.

[18]  Frank K. Tittel,et al.  The influence of boundary conditions on the accuracy of diffusion theory in time-resolved reflectance spectroscopy of biological tissues , 1995, Physics in medicine and biology.

[19]  Simon R. Arridge,et al.  A method for three‐dimensional time‐resolved optical tomography , 2000 .

[20]  R. Weissleder,et al.  In vivo imaging of tumors with protease-activated near-infrared fluorescent probes , 1999, Nature Biotechnology.

[21]  P M Schlag,et al.  Frequency-domain techniques enhance optical mammography: initial clinical results. , 1997, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[22]  P M Schlag,et al.  Development of a time-domain optical mammograph and first in vivo applications. , 1999, Applied optics.

[23]  Daniel J. Hawrysz,et al.  Developments toward diagnostic breast cancer imaging using near-infrared optical measurements and fluorescent contrast agents. , 2000, Neoplasia.

[24]  M J Eppstein,et al.  Biomedical optical tomography using dynamic parameterization and bayesian conditioning on photon migration measurements. , 1999, Applied optics.

[25]  M S Patterson,et al.  Imaging of fluorescent yield and lifetime from multiply scattered light reemitted from random media. , 1997, Applied optics.

[26]  Margaret J. Eppstein,et al.  3-D Bayesian Optical Image Reconstruction with Domain Decomposition , 2001, IEEE Trans. Medical Imaging.

[27]  B. Pogue,et al.  Spatially variant regularization improves diffuse optical tomography. , 1999, Applied optics.

[28]  P M Schlag,et al.  Assessment of the size, position, and optical properties of breast tumors in vivo by noninvasive optical methods. , 1998, Applied optics.

[29]  M. Lax,et al.  Time-resolved fourier diffuse optical tomography , 2000 .

[30]  H L Graber,et al.  Improved Reconstruction Algorithm for Luminescence Optical Tomography when Background Lumiphore is Present. , 1998, Applied optics.