Abstract

We present a diffuse optical tomography (DOT) algorithm for imaging the absorption distribution in a biological tissue using time-domain optical measurements. The time-dependent parabolic simplified spherical polynomials approximation of the radiative transfer equation (the TD-pSP_N model) serves as the forward model. The DOT algorithm is implemented using a nested analysis and design (NAND) method developed for solving constrained optimization problems. Numerical experiments are provided for small geometry media to mimic small animal imaging. In these experiments, the optical absorption coefficient value is varied within typical values found in the near infrared range for biological tissues, including high absorption values. The results show good spatial and quantitative reconstructions and support our TD-pSP_N-based DOT algorithm as an accurate approach to image absorption in biological media.

© 2011 OSA/SPIE