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Application of the finite-element method for the forward and inverse models in optical tomography

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Abstract

The development of an optical tomographic imaging system for biological tissue based on time-resolved near-infrared transillumination has received considerable interest recently. The reconstruction problem is ill posed because of scatter-dominated photon propagation, and hence it requires both an accurate and fast transport model and a robust solution convergence scheme. The iterative image recovery algorithm described in this paper uses a numerical finite-element solution to the diffusion equation as the photon propagation model. The model itself is used to compare the influence of absorbing and scattering inhomogeneities embedded in a homogeneous tissue sample on boundary measurements to estimate the possibility of separating absorption and scattering images. Images of absorbers and scatterers reconstructed from both mean-time-of-flight and logarithmic intensity data are presented. It is found that mean-time-of-flight data offer increased resolution for reconstructing the scattering coefficient, whereas intensity data are favorable for reconstructing absorption.

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Schweiger, M., Arridge, S.R. & Delpy, D.T. Application of the finite-element method for the forward and inverse models in optical tomography. J Math Imaging Vis 3, 263–283 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01248356

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