When analyzing multidiameter single-fiber reflectance (MDSFR) spectra, the inhomogeneous distribution of melanin pigments in skin tissue is usually not accounted for. Especially in heavily pigmented skins, this can result in bad fits and biased estimation of tissue optical properties. A model is introduced to account for the inhomogeneous distribution of melanin pigments in skin tissue. In vivo visible MDSFR measurements were performed on heavily pigmented skin of type IV to VI. Skin tissue optical properties and related physiological properties were extracted from the measured spectra using the introduced model. The absorption of melanin pigments described by the introduced model demonstrates a good correlation with the co-localized measurement of the well-known melanin index.
The forward model in this work is based on the frequency- dependent diffusion approximation. The diffusion approximation is solved using the Finite Element Method with the Robin Boundary condition. The model is 2D, with a circular domain simulating the cross section of a limb. The meshes are generated with FIDAP, a computational fluid dynamics package. The diffusion matrix is solved using Cholesky decomposition, and results on the boundary for a modulated source include AC and DC data for a given set of optical parameters.
Results obtained with an experimental Optical Tomography system, using a frequency domain technique and a cylindrical geometry are presented. In particular, problems occurring in the reconstruction of Optical Tomography images due to uncertainties in the values for relative refractive index and system calibration factor have been investigated. It is shown that considerable errors can arise in the values for the reconstructed absorption and diffusion images as a result of these uncertainties, and that these uncertainties can give rise to artifacts in the reconstructed images. In addition, the degeneracy between the absorption coefficient, (mu) a, and the diffusion coefficient, D, is shown for reconstruction from DC data, with the conclusion that for optimal reconstruction DC data cannot be discarded, and therefore an accurate system calibration remains a necessity.
Optical spectroscopy techniques are frequently used to non- invasively monitor various physiological functions such as tissue and blood oxygenation. It is desirable to develop a methods to localize these measurements and quantify the parameters of interest, e.g. oxygen saturation. An optical tomography system for imaging the oxygenation of the limb is presented. Initially, a rotate-translate optical imaging system was developed. Image reconstruction was performed using a conventional filtered back projection scheme. With this system the limits of spatial and contrast resolution as a function of the absorption and reduced scattering coefficients were investigated. The limiting factor was found to be contrast resolution. A second generation imaging system, using a rotate-rotate type scanning system, has been constructed. Data obtained with this system utilizes all the light emerging in the plane of measurement, and does not assume rectilinear propagation. The image reconstruction algorithm developed for this uses diffusion theory to model the light transport, and an iterative reconstruction algorithm. Results obtained with this model are presented. A further method to improve image quality is the use of a phase resolved technique, which uses amplitude modulation of the light source. An outline is given of the principle of this technique, and the system build for the measurement is discussed.
Laser induced fluorescence has often been used as a diagnostic method. Unfortunately the fluorescence signal is modified during the photons migration towards the detector. The purpose of this study is to determine the alterations of the laser induced fluorescence spectra in white matter of adult brain due to the spectral variations of the optical coefficients (mu) a((lambda) ), (mu) s((lambda) ) and of the mean cosine of the scattering angle g((lambda) ).
Quantitation of near infrared spectroscopic (NIRS) data requires an accurate knowledge of the effective optical pathlengths within the various components of an inhomogeneous scattering medium. For instance, in the monitoring of cerebral oxygenation by NIRS, the contribution of the overlying tissues such as the skin and the skull to the total optical pathlength must be known. To elucidate this problem a Monte Carlo model of light transport through a heterogeneous scattering and absorbing medium has been developed in which the boundaries of the heterogeneous media are concentric spheres. The inside medium represents brain tissue and the outside medium represent skin and skull. The Monte Carlo model uses an anisotropic scattering phase function and values for absorption coefficient ((mu) a) and scattering coefficient ((mu) s) in each medium that are based upon experimentally measured data. The model follows paths of photons from an input point to their exit on the medium boundary and calculates the total optical pathlength (the differential pathlength DP) and the pathlength in each medium. An analytical proof of the applicability of the Modified Beer-Lambert Law in a heterogeneous medium is also presented and the possible contribution of the overlying tissues of the head to the total NIRS signal is discussed.
A rigorous technique using a Monte Carlo model has been developed to determine the optical properties of biological tissue from goniometer and integrating sphere measurements. Using these techniques, the wavelength dependence of the phase function, g-value, absorption coefficient, scattering and reduced scattering coefficient were determined for postmortem neonate and adult human brain tissue over the wavelength range of 500 to 1000 nm. Single scattering phase functions as a function of wavelength have been measured using a goniometer system and optically thin tissue slices. Spectra for the absorption and scattering coefficients have been determined from a set of integrating sphere measurements, using a white light source and a CCD spectrometer. The integrating sphere data were analyzed using a novel Monte Carlo inversion technique, which makes use of the measured phase functions and which takes into account the effects of sample geometry and the angular dependence of specular reflection. This method overcomes some of the problems and shortfalls of the analytical techniques which employ Kubelka Munk or diffusion theory. The reduced scattering coefficients for all types of brain tissue showed a linear decrease with increasing wavelength. The wavelength dependence of the scattering coefficient and the phase function is shown to be considerable, and cannot be neglected.
With the ever-growing use of optical techniques in medicine, both for diagnostic and for therapeutic uses, there is the need for accurate data on the optical properties of the various tissues concerned. Due to the complexity of biological tissue, the determina-
There is an ever increasing use of optical methods in medicine in the areas of diagnostics, therapy and surgery. Examples of diagnostic use are the monitoring of blood oxygenation and tissue metabolism 1,2,3, laser doppler flow measurement', pulse oximetry5, detection of cancer by fluorescence methods6" etc, and more recently various suggested techniques for optical imaging9,10,11,12. Therapeutic uses include applications in laser surgery, laser angioplasty and ablation of tumours and in Photodynamic Therapy (PDT)". For these applications, there is a need to know the optical properties of the tissues concerned, in order to interpret and quantify diagnostic data, and to predict light distribution and absorbed dose for therapeutic use.
A Monte Carlo model of light transport in tissue is presented and used to calculate fluence rates within beef liver. The optical coefficients of beef liver used in these calculations have been determined experimentally on both fresh and laser coagulated tissue samples. Coagulation was found to increase the scattering, but left the absorption little changed. Using these measured optical coefficients, the model showed that the light distribution in the tissue was changed significantly following coagulation. The fluence rates in the coagulated tissue were found to be more diffuse than in the fresh tissue.
In the brain of the adult rat, the ratio of the absorption coefficient of hemoglobin to that of the cytochromes is approximately ten and in the newborn rat brain the ratio is even higher. Additionally the absorption spectra of these compounds overlap markedly. Under these circumstances the accurate determination of cytochrome concentration is difficult. There are many possible sources of error: (i) Non linear measuring equipment. (ii) Inaccurate hemoglobin and cytochrome spectra. (iii) A wavelength dependent effective optical pathlength. (iv) An absorption coefficient dependent effective optical pathlength. (v) Oxygenation dependent changes in tissue scattering. The first two sources of error can be solved with careful instrumental and experimental design. The last three are much more problematic, but can be addressed using time resolved measurements. These are the topic of this paper. A wavelength dependence of the optical pathlength leads to a distortion of the optical spectra of the chromophores in brain tissue. A simple method of examining the wavelength dependant effects is discussed. The selection of the correct wavelength range is important in minimizing these problems. Until recently, all near infrared data processing 'algorithms' have assumed a linear Beer Lambert relationship between the measured attenuation spectra and tissue absorption coefficient. However, picosecond optical techniques have shown that at a single wavelength, the optical pathlength in the rat brain can vary by 10% implying that the Beer Lambert law is not strictly valid. A non linear correction of tissue spectra which can be based on results from time of flight measurements is described.
In infrared absorption imaging, the requirement is to reconstruct the spatial distribution of the optical absorption coefficient, from boundary measurements of the flux intensity of light arising from a specific source distribution. An accurate and efficient model is required to simulate data for given experimental conditions and for any hypothesized solution (the Forward Problem). The Inverse Problem is then to derive the solution that best fits the data, subject to constraints imposed by a priori knowledge (e.g. positivity). The Forward Problem is denoted (chi) equals A(mu) + n where (mu) is the required functional map, (chi) the boundary data, A the Forward Transform and n noise, and the Inverse Problem is (mu) equals A+(chi) , where A+ is an approximation to the Inverse Transform. The experimental arrangement modelled assumes an inhomogeneous cylindrical object. A picosecond dye laser produces input pulses at N locations and a time resolved detector makes measurements at N output sites. This (chi) is an N2 by 1 vector and (mu) can be reconstructed to, at best, an N by N image. The Forward Model described here is an analytic approach using the Greens Function of the diffusion equation in a cylinder, (the P1 approximation to the radiative transfer equation). It may be parameterized by the global values of absorption and scattering coefficients ((mu) a, and (mu) s), which have to be adjusted to best fit the data. The Inverse Problem is highly ill-posed. To solve it, we use the Moore-Penrose generalized inverse A+ equals (A*A)-1A*, and two simple regularization techniques: truncated singular value reconstruction and Tikhovov regularization. Examination of the singular vectors of the kernel demonstrate that the solution is dominated by surface effects, unless a very high signal-to-noise ratio is obtained in the data. Results are shown for simulated mathematical phantoms and a tissue-equivalent phantom composed of polystyrene microspheres.
Near-infrared light may be detected in transillumination through several centimetres of tissue. Spectral changes in this light are routinely used for globally monitoring blood volume and oxygenation in the brain of newborn infants and observing the enhanced vascularity surrounding tumours in the breast. The imaging problem may be identified as the inversion of strongly multiply scattered light. The reconstruction method previously proposed is an iterative one requiring a sophisticated forward model and an analysis of the ill-posedness at each stage. The experimental arrangement for studies on a cylindrical phantom takes measurements at 32 equally angularly spaced locations for each of 32 similarly arranged input locations. The phantom that has been developed allows the values of the scattering coefficient (μs), absorption coefficient (μa), and angular scattering probability function f(s,s') [direction s' -> s] to be independently controlled. Absorbing objects are placed in the phantom to produce inhomogeneous data. Experimental results are compared with both Monte-Carlo and Finite Element simulations. The experimental and simulated data may be collected in both continuous and time-resolved form. The former shows a definite spatial variation with phantom inhomogeneity. The latter may afford additional information, but is limited at present by the poor signal-to-noise ratio available from the insirumentation.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.