Time-resolved reflectance at null source-detector separation: improving contrast and resolution in diffuse optical imaging

We propose a novel approach to imaging in diffusive media based on time-resolved reflectance measurements at null source-detector separation. This approach yields better spatial resolution and contrast as compared to the classical approach, which typically employs a separation of 20-40 mm. Results are obtained by an analytical perturbation approach to diffusion theory and on Monte Carlo simulations. Practical implementation with state-of-the-art technology and performance of a complementary approach based on the use of small but not null source-detector separation are also discussed.     

Time-resolved diffuse reflectance using small source-detector separation and fast single-photon gating

We demonstrate the feasibility of time-resolved diffuse reflectance measurements at small source-detector separations using a single-photon avalanche diode operated in time-gated mode. Photon time distributions at an interfiber distance of 2 mm were obtained on a homogeneous tissue phantom with a dynamic range of 10(6) and collecting photons at arrival times up to 4 ns. Moreover, we were able to detect a local inhomogeneity deeply buried within a diffusive medium with better spatial resolution, higher signal intensity, and same contrast of a larger (20 mm) interfiber distance. Finally, the proposed approach proved valuable to detect in vivo a task-related brain activation.     

空间分辨漫反射的高阶参量灵敏度

光源附近的空间分辨漫反射与散射介质的高阶光学参量有关.为了研究高阶参量对漫反射的影响，定义了二阶参量灵敏度和三阶参量灵敏度，它们表示了由于高阶参量变化导致漫反射变化的相对量.从P₃近似理论出发，推导了二阶参量灵敏度和三阶参量灵敏度的解析表示，并进行了数值分析和比较.研究表明，在大于一个输运平均自由程的非漫射近似区域，反射率随二阶光学参量增加而增加，其灵敏度随着空间变化，并在小于两个输运平均自由程内出现极大值；相比之下，三阶光学参量对漫反射率的影响可以忽略. 关键词： 漫反射 3近似')" href="#">P₃近似 灵敏度     

Correlative studies in optical reflectance measurements of cerebral blood oxygenation

A numerical study is made of correlation development for measuring cerebral blood oxygen saturation (StO) noninvasively using optical reflectance ratio of dual wavelengths. The Monte Carlo (MC) method was used for simulating reflectance measurements in a model neck tissue, where the cerebral blood oxygenation was monitored through the blood flows in the common carotid artery (CCA) and jugular vein. Reflectance ratios between two wavelengths at 633 and 800 nm were obtained under different blood vessel conditions. The results revealed a quantifiable correlation between the reflectance ratio and the cerebral StO level. Correlations for each of the blood vessel parameters such as the location, size, and hemoglobin concentration of the CCA or jugular vein (JV) were developed.     

A portable system for noninvasive assessment of advanced glycation end-products using skin fluorescence and reflectance spectrum

An optical system has been developed for noninvasive assessment of skin advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). The system comprises mainly a high-power ultraviolet light emitting diode (LED) as an excitation source, an LED array for the reflectance measurement, a trifurcated fiber-optic probe for light transmitting and receiving, and a compact spectrometer for light detecting. Both skin fluorescence of a subject and the reflectance spectrum of the same site can be obtained in a single measurement with the system. Demonstrative measurements with the system have been conducted. Results indicate that the measured reflectance spectrum can be used to compensate for the distortion of AGEs fluorescence, which is caused by skin absorption and scattering. The system is noninvasive, portable, easy to operate, and has potential applications for clinical diagnosis of AGE-related diseases, especially diabetes mellitus.     

Determination of photosensitizer concentration in biological tissues from diffuse reflectance and fluorescence

We present a fiber-optic device for noninvasive determination of the optical properties of biological tissues and photosensitizer concentration. The device developed can be used in two modes: the mode for detection of the spatial distribution of diffuse reflectance, and the fluorescence mode. We tested the device in vitro on specimens simulating tissue and on whole blood, and also in vivo on rats. We have shown that with additional modification and adaptation, the device can be used for in vivo monitoring of parameters important for photodynamic therapy.     

Light propagation for time-domain fluorescence diffuse optical tomography by convolution using lifetime function

Time-domain light propagation in biological tissue is studied by solving the forward problem for fluorescence diffuse optical tomography using a convolution of the zero-lifetime emission light and the exponential function for a finite lifetime. We firstly formulate the fundamental equations in a time-domain assuming that the fluorescence lifetime is equal to zero, and then the solution including the lifetime is obtained by convolving the emission light and the lifetime function. The model is a two-dimensional (2-D) 10 mm-radius circle with the optical properties simulating biological tissue for the near infrared light, and contains some inclusions with fluorophores. Temporal and spatial profiles of excitation and emission light are calculated and discussed for several models with different inclusions. The results are physically reasonable and will be used for the inverse problem of fluorescence diffuse optical tomography.     

Full-wavelet approach for fluorescence diffuse optical tomography with structured illumination

We present a fast reconstruction method for fluorescence optical tomography with structured illumination. Our approach is based on the exploitation of the wavelet transform of the measurements acquired after wavelet-patterned illuminations. This method, validated on experimental data, enables us to significantly reduce the acquisition and computation times with respect to the classical scanning approach. Therefore, it could be particularly suited for in vivo applications.     

Experimental validation for time-domain fluorescence diffuse optical tomography of linear scheme

We present a full three-dimensional, featured-data algorithm for time-domain fluorescence diffuse optical tomography that inverts the Laplace-transformed time-domain coupled diffusion equations and employs a pair of appropriate transform-factors to effectively separate the fluorescent yield and lifetime parameters. By use of a time-correlation single-photon counting system and the normalized Born formulation, we ex-perimentally validate that the proposed scheme can achieve simultaneous reconstruction of the fluorescent yield and lifetime distributions with a reasonable accuracy.     

Volumetric diffuse optical tomography of brain activity

We present three-dimensional diffuse optical tomography of the hemodynamic response to somatosensory stimulation in a rat. These images show the feasibility of volumetrically imaging the functional response to brain activity with diffuse light. A combination of positional optode calibration and contrast-to-noise ratio weighting was found to improve imaging performance.     

室内多波段光轴一致性测试系统的设计

介绍用于室内检测多波段光电设备光轴一致性的测试系统。该系统采用准直平行光管为测试系统提供无穷远目标。为满足全波段测试，光束无中心遮拦，系统选用离轴抛物面全反射光学系统。采用多光谱分光镜为激光光斑提供瞄准基准，带温控热十字丝的高斯目镜为红外和可见光波段提供瞄准基准，实现了光电设备之间可见与红外、可见与激光、激光与红外光轴的一致性测试。系统具有测试精度高、测试结果可靠等特点。根据初步估算，可见与红外、可见与激光、红外与激光之间的光轴一致性测试精度分别达到了4.01″， 1.08″和 4.05″的水平。该系统有效解决了多波段光测设备光轴间的一致性测试问题。     

Influence of oxidation on optical diffuse reflectance spectra in nanoscale silicon powder

Received: 5 June 1997/Accepted: 30 July 1997     

Method to improve the performance of reflectance diffuse optical imaging based on polygonal optical fibers arrangement

In order to improve the performance of reflectance diffuse optical imaging （rDOI）, a novel polynomial geometry （PG） of optical fibers arrangement is proposed. Polynomial geometry is based on the hexagonal geometry （HG） and multicentered double-density （MD） mode. The overlapping sensitivity matrix, area ratio （AR）, reconstruction image, two-absorber model, and contrast-to-noise ratio （CNR） in different depths are used to evaluate the performance of PG. The other three geometries including HG, rectangular geometry （RG）, and MD mode are also compared with PG. The deformation of the reconstruction images is evaluted by circular ratio （CR）. The results prove that the proposed PG has high performance and minimum deformation in quality of reconstruction image in rDOI.     

Determination of optical parameters of pulp suspensions by time-resolved detection of photoacoustic signals and total diffuse reflectance measurements

Time-resolved photoacoustics were used to measure the optical parameters of pulp suspensions for the first time. Reconstructing stress distribution along the direction of the incident laser light allows the effective attenuation coefficient of these suspensions to be determined. Simultaneously, the total diffuse reflectance of the suspensions was measured by the same laser source. Based on the effective attenuation coefficient and total diffuse reflectance, the absorption and reduced scattering coefficients of pulp suspensions can be calculated. In this study, three kinds of pulp suspensions with different kappa number (2, 13, and 16), a measure of lignin content in pulp fibers, were diluted with water to make samples with a consistency range from 1% to 5%, and studied at 355 nm wavelength. The results showed that the optical coefficients were approximately proportional to pulp consistency; on the other hand, the absorption coefficient was linearly correlated with kappa number, but the reduced scattering coefficient was not. Therefore, by determining its optical parameters, it is possible to extract the consistency and kappa number of an unknown pulp suspension.     

Time-resolved fluorescence polarization anisotropy and optical imaging of Cybesin in cancerous and normal prostate tissues

Time-resolved polarization-dependent fluorescence of Cybesin in solution and in cancerous and normal prostate tissues were measured. The polarization preservation property of Cybesin in tissue was observed. The fluorescence intensity emitted from a Cybesin-stained cancerous tissue area was found to be much stronger than that from a Cybesin-stained normal tissue area indicating that cancerous prostate tissue takes-up more Cybesin than normal tissue. The polarization anisotropy of Cybesin contained in cancerous prostate tissue was found to be larger than that of Cybesin in normal prostate tissue indicating that a larger degree of polarization was preserved in the Cybesin-stained cancerous tissue due to structures. A static anisotropy component from the emission of cell-bonded Cybesin molecules in tissue and a time-dependent anisotropy component from the emission of un-bonded Cybesin molecules were determined and discussed. The static anisotropy value of Cybesin in stained cancerous tissue was found to be much larger than that in stained normal tissue. The fluorescence polarization difference imaging technique based on the polarization preservation of Cybesin was used to enhance the image contrast between cancerous and normal prostate tissue areas.     

基于混合漫射近似的空间分辨漫反射光学参量灵敏度的研究

根据空间分辨漫反射的双点源混合漫射近似模型, 推导了空间分辨漫反射率对生物组织吸收系数μ_a和有效散射系数μ'_s灵敏度的解析表示, 系统研究了在强吸收条件近光源区域吸收系数μ_a和有效散射系数μ'_s对漫反射光子分布的影响. 研究表明: 吸收系数的灵敏度随光源与探测器间距ρ的增加呈线性增长, 其斜率正比于(μ'_s/μ_a)^1/4, 比例系数约为1.4, 同时获得一个优化的探测距离ρ_opt, 距离光源约3.4个输运平均自由程, 在这个距离处有效散射系数的变化对测量吸收的影响最小. 这项研究对于生物组织的光学性质测量以及漫反射光谱技术的应用具有重要意义.     

Performance evaluation of adaptive meshing algorithms for fluorescence diffuse optical tomography using experimental data

Fluorescence diffuse optical tomography (FDOT) is a computationally demanding imaging problem. The discretizations of FDOT forward and inverse problems pose a trade-off between the accuracy and the computational efficiency of the image reconstruction. To address this trade-off, we analyzed the effect of discretization on the accuracy of FDOT imaging and proposed novel adaptive meshing algorithms for FDOT in a series of studies. In this Letter, we apply these new adaptive meshing algorithms to FDOT imaging using real data from a phantom experiment to demonstrate the practical advantages of our algorithms in FDOT image reconstruction.     

In vivo whole-body imaging of optical agent dynamics using full angle fluorescence diffuse optical tomography

Dynamic fluorescence diffuse optical tomography （FDOT） is important in drug deliver research. In this letter, we first image the metabolic processes of micelles indocyanine green throughout the whole body of a nude mouse using the full-angle FDOT system with line illumination （L-FDOT）. The resolution of L-FDOT is evaluated using phantom experiment. Next, in vivo dynamic tomographic images （100 frames; approximately 170 min） of mouse liver and abdomen are shown and cross-validated by planar fluorescence reflectance imaging in vitro. Results provide evidence on applicability of the tomographic image wholebody biological activities in vivo on minute timescale （approximately 1.7 min） using L-FDOT.     

Real-time optical monitoring system for dye colour and concentration

A system for real-time monitoring of a dye has been constructed which enables us to measure the concentration and fluctuations of the three base colours. The method is based on light attenuation theory and its principle requires three different lasers having the three base colours. The system consisted of a semiconductor laser and argon ion laser for light sources, a photodiode for a light detector and a personal computer for data processing. Detection sensitivity for the dye concentration was a few and the system can be applied for practical uses.     

Advantages of fluorescence over diffuse reflectance measurements tested in phantom experiments with dynamic inflow of ICG

Time-resolved measurements of diffuse reflectance and fluorescence were carried out using phantom with dynamic inflow of indocyanine green (ICG) in tubes located at different depths. Better sensitivity of fluorescence signals related to the inflow of the dye was observed in comparison to simultaneously acquired diffuse reflectance. Obtained results can be referred to results of in-vivo measurements. We have observed much larger amplitude of changes in relative number of detected photons, mean time of flight and variance of the distributions of times of arrival of fluorescence photons than amplitudes of respective parameters measured from diffuse reflectance distributions of times of flight of photons. The constructed phantom allows us to study influence of concentration of the dye in the tube and the surrounding medium as well as temporal relation between appearance of the boli in deeper and superficial tube. Results of the study were used in optimization of the time-resolved multichannel system for simultaneous monitoring of fluorescence and reflectance.