Functional Brain Imaging by Optical Tomography

描述（由申请人提供）：功能性近红外成像有潜力成为一种多功能、经济和紧凑的工具，用于研究血管对神经激活反应的详细动力学。虽然硬件开发取得了稳步进展，但滞后的是软件环境的可用性，该环境可以在快速的时间尺度上提供准确的重建，并且非常适合探索神经激活固有的广泛复杂行为的多功能幻影。在第一阶段取得重大进展的基础上，我们开发了一种快速稳定的图像增强方案，可以显著提高一阶重建的图像精度。独立地，通过采用液晶技术的原理，我们开发了可编程的动态幻影，以高精度，精度和速度模拟复杂的血流动力学事件。拟议的研究将结合这两项创新，以允许系统优化和定量检查，通过动态近红外成像可以探索复杂的神经血管状态。这些努力补充了一项更广泛的七年技术发展计划，该计划已经产生了一种成像系统，目前在10个主要的国家和国际研究中心使用。本研究考虑对用户可控因素进行深度优化（例如，照明波长的最佳选择、重建图像精度的提高、图像增强方案的微调），从而确定集成技术作为一系列大脑固有参数的函数的潜在精度和稳定性。这些研究的终点将是对我们公司开发的近红外成像方法的保真度和准确性进行实地验证。通过对主要系统组件的精心优化，我们相信新技术的结合和对软件环境的创新改进将导致NIRS成像作为一种多功能和准确的神经成像工具的广泛接受。为了克服阻碍功能性近红外成像广泛接受的关键技术障碍，提出了一种新的用于功能性近红外成像的图像增强方案及其使用创新和通用评估模式的地面真值验证的系统测试和集成。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Functional NIRS imaging holds the potential to become a versatile, economical, and compact tool for the study of the detailed dynamics of the vascular response to neuroactivation. While steady progress has been made in hardware development, lagging has been the availability of a software environment that provides for accurate reconstructions on a fast time scale and versatile phantoms well suited to explore the wide range of complex behavior inherent to neuroactivation. Building on significant progress made during Phase I, we have developed a fast and stable image enhancement scheme that can significantly improve the image accuracy of first order reconstructions. Independently, by adopting principles from liquid crystal technology, we have developed programmable dynamic phantoms that mimic complex hemodynamic events with high accuracy, precision and speed. The proposed investigation will combine these two innovations to allow for the systematic optimization and quantitative examination by which dynamic NIRS imaging can explore complex neurovascular states. These efforts complement a broader seven-year technology development plan that has already produced an imaging system now in use at ten leading national and international research centers. The proposed study considers an in-depth optimization of user controllable factors (e.g., optimal selection of illuminating wavelengths, improvements in accuracy of reconstructred images, fine tuning of the image enhancement scheme) so as to determine the underlying accuracy and stability of the integrated technology as a function of a range of parameters intrinsic to the brain. The end point of these studies will be a ground truth validation of the fidelity and accuracy of the NIRS imaging approach developed by our company. Through careful optimization of the principal system components, we are confident that the combination of new technologies, and innovative improvements to our software environment will lead to the broad acceptance of NIRS imaging as a versatile and accurate neuroimaging tool. The systematic testing and integration of a new image enhancement scheme for functional NIRS imaging and its ground truth validation using an innovative and versatile assessment modality is proposed for the purpose overcoming the key technology barriers preventing the wide acceptance of functional NIRS imaging.