Quantitative evaluation of atlas-based highdensity diffuse optical tomography for imaging of the human visual cortex

Image recovery in diffuse optical tomography (DOT) of the human brain often relies on accurate models of light propagation within the head. In the absence of subject specific models for image reconstruction, the use of atlas based models are showing strong promise. Although there exists some understanding in the use of some limited rigid model registrations in DOT, there has been a lack of a detailed analysis between errors in geometrical accuracy, light propagation in tissue and subsequent errors in dynamic imaging of recovered focal activations in the brain. In this work 11 different rigid registration algorithms, across 24 simulated subjects, are evaluated for DOT studies in the visual cortex. Although there exists a strong correlation (R(2) = 0.97) between geometrical surface error and internal light propagation errors, the overall variation is minimal when analysing recovered focal activations in the visual cortex. While a subject specific mesh gives the best results with a 1.2 mm average location error, no single algorithm provides errors greater than 4.5 mm. This work demonstrates that the use of rigid algorithms for atlas based imaging is a promising route when subject specific models are not available

Xây dựng ảnh não ba chiều sử dụng phương pháp quang cận hồng ngoại

Kỹ thuật quang cận hồng ngoại fNIRS (functional near-infrared spectroscopy) là phương pháp không tiếp xúc được dùng để đo nồng độ hemoglobin của tín hiệu não. Độ phân giải về thời gian của của kỹ thuật này cao (xấp xỉ 1 ms). Tuy nhiên, độ phân giải về không gian thì bị hạn chế (xấp xỉ 10 mm) so với các kỹ thuật không tiếp xúc khác. Do đó trong nghiên cứu này, kỹ thuật fNIRS với 32 cặp thu phát cận hồng ngoại được dùng để đo đáp ứng động học não của 5 người đàn ông trưởng thành khi cho họ thực hiện các phép tính số học. Đặc biệt tọa độ của 256 điểm ảnh 3 chiều được tính toán dựa trên sự phân bố hình học của các cặp thu phát. Hệ số về chiều dài đường đi của các quang tử trong phương trình Beer-Lambert được ước lượng như một hàm của khoảng cách để tính toán độ hấp thụ của ánh sáng. Trị trung bình của nồng độ hemoglobin (Oxy-hemoglobin và deOxy-hemoglobin) được tính từ độ hấp thụ ánh sáng thì được dùng để dựng lại ảnh não 3 chiều. Kết quả đạt được cho thấy phương pháp đề nghị có thể phát hiện tính hoạt động của não với độ phân giải không gian cao hơn so với phương pháp truyền thống

Multiscale imaging of the mouse cortex using two-photon microscopy and wide-field illumination

The mouse brain can be studied over vast spatial scales ranging from microscopic imaging of single neurons to macroscopic measurements of hemodynamics acquired over the majority of the mouse cortex. However, most neuroimaging modalities are limited by a fundamental trade-off between the spatial resolution and the field-of-view (FOV) over which the brain can be imaged, making it difficult to fully understand the functional and structural architecture of the healthy mouse brain and its disruption in disease. My dissertation has focused on developing multiscale optical systems capable of imaging the mouse brain at both microscopic and mesoscopic spatial scales, specifically addressing the difference in spatial scales imaged with two-photon microscopy (TPM) and optical intrinsic signal imaging (OISI). Central to this work has been the formulation of a principled design strategy for extending the FOV of the two-photon microscope. Using this design approach, we constructed a TPM system with subcellular resolution and a FOV area 100 times greater than a conventional two-photon microscope. To image the ellipsoidal shape of the mouse cortex, we also developed the microscope to image arbitrary surfaces within a single frame using an electrically tunable lens. Finally, to address the speed limitations of the TPM systems developed during my dissertation, I also conducted research in large-scale neural phenomena occurring in the mouse brain imaged with high-speed OISI. The work conducted during my dissertation addresses some of the fundamental principles in designing and applying optical systems for multiscale imaging of the mouse brain

Fast Radiative-Transfer-Equation-Based Image Reconstruction Algorithms for Non-Contact Diffuse Optical Tomography Systems

It is well known that the radiative transfer equation (RTE) is the most accurate deterministic light propagation model employed in diffuse optical tomography (DOT). RTE-based algorithms provide more accurate tomographic results than codes that rely on the diffusion equation (DE), which is an approximation to the RTE, in scattering dominant media. However, RTE based DOT (RTE-DOT) has limited utility in practice due to its high computational cost and lack of support for general non-contact imaging systems. In this dissertation, I developed fast reconstruction algorithms for RTE-based DOT (RTE-DOT), which consists of three independent components: an efficient linear solver for forward problems, an improved optimization solver for inverse problem, and the first light propagation model in free space that fully considers the angular dependency, which can provide a suitable measurement operator for RTE-DOT. This algorithm is validated and evaluated with numerical experiments and clinical data. According to these studies, the novel reconstruction algorithm is up to 30 times faster than traditional reconstruction techniques, while achieving comparable reconstruction accuracy