Theoretical analysis of crosstalk between oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin in focal brain-activation measurements by near-infrared topography

The crosstalk between concentration changes in oxygenated haemoglobin and deoxygenated haemoglobin calculated by the modified Lambert-Beer law in near-infrared topography is theoretically investigated. The changes in intensity detected with probe pairs on the scalp caused by the concentration change in either oxygenated or deoxygenated haemoglobin induced by the focal brain activation is predicted by Monte Carlo simulation. The topographic images of the changes in oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin are obtained from the changes in the intensity of light at two wavelengths detected by probe pairs to evaluate the crosstalk. The crosstalk slightly depends on the positional relationship between the probe arrangement and the focal brain activation and is minimised when the focal brain activation is located below a measurement point that is the midpoint between a probe pair. The 690-/830-nm wavelength pair is practically effective for reducing the crosstalk, especially the crosstalk from oxygenated haemoglobin to deoxygenated haemoglobin, in the NIR topography.