Fluorescence tomography with simulated data based on the equation of radiative transfer

The quantification of a nonuniform quantum yield or fluorophore absorption distribution is of major interest in molecular imaging of biological tissue. We introduce what is believed to be the first fluorescence image reconstruction algorithm based on the equation of radiative transfer that recovers the spatial distribution of light-emitting fluorophores inside a highly scattering medium from measurements made on the surface of the medium. We obtain images of either the quantum yield or the fluorophore absorption.