Fluorescence tomography using line-by-line forward model

1. A fluorescence optical tomography method for producing an image of a volume of interest indicative of location and number density of fluorophores embedded therein, the method comprising:

optically scanning the volume of interest at a plurality of source/detector geometries with an optical source generating an optical signal at an excitation wavelength, interaction of the excitation wavelength with the fluorophores causing fluorescence therefrom at a fluorescence wavelength;

determining separately, for each of the source/detector geometries, an effective absorption coefficient and an effective reduced scattering coefficient of the volume of interest;

detecting at the detector locations the fluorescence wavelength and generating a fluorescence signal output;

calculating a fluorescence signal using an estimated spatial distribution of fluorophore concentration and the effective absorption and reduced scattering coefficients for each of the source/detector geometries; and

adjusting said estimated spatial distribution of fluorophore concentration using said detected fluorescence signal output and said calculated fluorescence signal to generate said image.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein determining an effective absorption coefficient and an effective reduced scattering coefficient comprises time-resolved detecting the excitation wavelength and determining said coefficients from the detected signal.

3. A method according to claim 2 wherein optically scanning the volume of interest comprises optically scanning the volume of interest with a pulsed laser source, detecting the excitation wavelength comprises detecting the excitation wavelength with a time domain detector, and determining said absorption and reduced scattering coefficients for each source/detector geometry comprises compiling a temporal point spread function.

4. A method according to claim 1 wherein determining an effective absorption coefficient and an effective reduced scattering coefficient comprises determining said coefficient values for each source-detector geometry from a dataset containing a spatial distribution of absorption and reduced scattering coefficients in said volume of interest.

5. A method according to claim 4 , wherein said dataset containing a spatial distribution of absorption and reduced scattering coefficients is obtained by optical imaging of said volume of interest.

6. A method according to claim 4 , wherein said dataset containing a spatial distribution of absorption and reduced scattering coefficients is obtained by determining an anatomical geometry of said volume of interest, and morphing according to said anatomical geometry a generic dataset containing a spatial distribution of absorption and reduced scattering coefficients.

7. A method according to claim 1 wherein optically scanning the volume of interest comprises optically scanning the volume of interest with a continuous wave optical source, and wherein detecting the fluorescence wavelength comprises detecting the fluorescence wavelength with a continuous wave detector.

8. A method according to claim 1 wherein optically scanning the volume of interest comprises optically scanning the volume of interest with a continuous wave optical source and a pulsed optical source, wherein detecting the fluorescence wavelength comprises detecting the fluorescence wavelength with a continuous wave detector and a time resolved detector.

9. A method according to claim 6 wherein calculating a fluorescence signal comprises calculating a fluorescence signal using a continuous wave photon migration model calculator and a time domain photon migration model calculator.

10. A method according to claim 1 further comprising repeating the steps of calculating a fluorescence signal and adjusting said estimated spatial distribution so as to reduce differences between the calculated fluorescence signal and the detected fluorescence signal output.

11. A method according to claim 1 further comprising normalizing the fluorescence signal output.

12. A fluorescence optical tomography method for producing an image of a volume of interest indicative of location and number density of fluorophores embedded therein, the method comprising:

optically scanning the volume of interest at a plurality of source/detector geometries with an optical source generating an optical signal at an excitation wavelength, interaction of the excitation wavelength with the fluorophores causing fluorescence therefrom at a fluorescence wavelength;

detecting the excitation wavelength with a time domain detector and compiling a temporal point spread function, and determining separately, for each of the source/detector geometries, an absorption coefficient and a reduced scattering coefficient;

calculating a fluorescence signal using an estimated spatial distribution of fluorophore concentration and the effective absorption and reduced scattering coefficients for each of the source/detector geometries;

detecting the fluorescence wavelength and generating a fluorescence signal output; and

estimating values of fluorophore concentration as a function of position within the volume of interest using the fluorescence signal output and the calculated fluorescence signal to generate said image.

13. A fluorescence optical tomography system for producing an image of a volume of interest indicative of location and number density of fluorophores embedded therein, the system comprising:

at least one optical source and at least one optical detector which together allow for optical scanning of the volume of interest at a plurality of source/detector geometries, the optical source generating an optical signal at an excitation wavelength such that interaction of the excitation wavelength with the fluorophores causes fluorescence therefrom at a fluorescence wavelength;

a determinator which determines separately, for each of the source/detector geometries, an absorption coefficient and a reduced scattering coefficient;

a calculator which calculates a fluorescence signal using an estimated spatial distribution of fluorophore concentration and the effective absorption and reduced scattering coefficients for each of the source/detector geometries;

a fluorescence signal generator which, using detected fluorescence wavelengths, generates a fluorescence signal output; and

an estimator which adjusts the estimated spatial distribution of fluorophore concentration from said fluorescence signal output and said calculated fluorescence signal to generate image data.

14. A system according to claim 13 wherein the determinator determines the absorption coefficient and the reduced scattering coefficient using time resolved detection of the excitation wavelength.

15. A system according to claim 14 wherein the optical source comprises a pulsed laser source and the detector comprises a time domain detector, and wherein the system further comprises a compiler for compiling a temporal point spread function from a signal detected by the time domain detector and providing the temporal point spread function to the determinator.

16. A system according to claim 13 wherein the determinator, in determining an absorption coefficient and a reduced scattering coefficient calculates an effective absorption coefficient and an effective reduced scattering coefficient from a dataset containing a spatial distribution of absorption and reduced scattering coefficients in said volume of interest.

17. A system according to claim 16 wherein said dataset is obtained by optical imaging of said volume of interest.

18. A system according to claim 16 wherein said dataset is obtained by determining an anatomical geometry of said volume of interest and morphing according to said anatomical geometry a generic dataset containing a spatial distribution of absorption and reduced scattering coefficients.

19. A system according to claim 13 wherein the optical source comprises a continuous wave optical source, and wherein the detector comprises a continuous wave detector that detects the fluorescence wavelength.

20. A system according to claim 13 wherein the optical source comprises a continuous wave optical source and a pulsed optical source, and wherein the detector comprises a continuous wave detector and a time resolved detector both of which detect the fluorescence wavelength.

21. A system according to claim 13 wherein the calculator calculates the fluorescence signal using a continuous wave photon migration model calculator and a time domain photon migration model calculator.

22. A system according to claim 13 wherein the calculator uses the adjusted estimated spatial distribution of fluorophore concentration to recalculate the fluorescence signal, and wherein the estimator readjusts the estimated spatial distribution of fluorophore concentration using the recalculated fluorescence signal and said fluorescence signal output.

23. A system according to claim 13 further comprising a normalizer that normalizes the fluorescence signal output.