Abstract

We carry out calculations of the photon path statistical characteristics for homogeneous scattering medium with the model bodies (inhomogeneities) which are akin to that of biological objects of real tomography investigations. Convenient approximation formulas for definition of the mean photon paths are constructed for both the time and frequency domains and different inhomogeneity types (inhomogeneous absorption, scattering, and refraction as well as inhomogeneities of the combined type). The possibility to represent the signal perturbations due to the macroinhomogeneities as an integral along the mean photon path is used to solve the tomography reconstruction problem. This enables us to reduce this problem to the set of simultaneous equations for the discrete distribution of the macroinhomogeneity characteristics. The optimum discretization scale is chosen on the basis of area across which the macroinhomogeneity characteristics are averaged (this area is defined by the values of the diffusion and refraction coefficients of the medium).

© 1996 IEEE