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High resolution 3D fluorescence tomography using ballistic photons

We are developing a ballistic-photon based approach for improving the spatial resolution of fluorescence tomography using time-domain measurements. This approach uses early photon information contained in measured time-of-fight distributions originating from fluorescence emission. The time point spread functions (TPSF) from both excitation light and emission light are acquired with gated single photon Avalanche detector (SPAD) and time-correlated single photon counting after a short laser pulse. To determine the ballistic photons for reconstruction, the lifetime of the fluorophore and the time gate from the excitation profiles will be used for calibration, and then the time gate of the fluorescence profile can be defined by a simple time convolution. By mimicking first generation CT data acquisition, the sourcedetector pair will translate across and also rotate around the subject. The measurement from each source-detector position will be reshaped into a histogram that can be used by a simple back-projection algorithm in order to reconstruct high resolution fluorescence images. Finally, from these 2D sectioning slides, a 3D inclusion can be reconstructed accurately. To validate the approach, simulation of light transport is performed for biological tissue-like media with embedded fluorescent inclusion by solving the diffusion equation with Finite Element Method using COMSOL Multiphysics simulation. The reconstruction results from simulation studies have confirmed that this approach drastically improves the spatial resolution of fluorescence tomography. Moreover, all the results have shown the feasibility of this technique for high resolution small animal imaging up to several centimeters.