Functional Brain Imaging by Optical Tomography

描述(申请人提供)：功能性近红外成像有可能成为一种通用、经济和紧凑的工具，用于研究血管对神经激活的反应的详细动力学。虽然在硬件开发方面取得了稳步进展，但滞后的是软件环境的可用性，该环境提供了快速时间尺度上的准确重建和非常适合探索神经激活固有的广泛复杂行为的通用幻象。在第一阶段取得重大进展的基础上，我们开发了一种快速而稳定的图像增强方案，可以显著提高一阶重建的图像精度。自主地，通过采用液晶技术的原理，我们开发了可编程的动态体模，以高精度、高精度和高速度模拟复杂的血液动力学事件。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。这些努力是对一个更广泛的七年技术发展计划的补充，该计划已经产生了一种成像系统，目前正在十个领先的国内和国际研究中心使用。拟议的研究考虑对用户可控因素(例如，照明波长的最佳选择、重建图像精度的改进、图像增强方案的微调)进行深入优化，以确定作为大脑固有参数范围的函数的综合技术的潜在准确性和稳定性。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的基本事实验证。通过对主要系统组件的仔细优化，我们相信，新技术的结合以及对我们软件环境的创新改进将导致近红外成像作为一种多功能和准确的神经成像工具被广泛接受。为了克服阻碍功能近红外成像被广泛接受的关键技术障碍，提出了一种新的功能近红外成像图像增强方案的系统测试和集成，并使用一种创新和通用的评估模式对其地面实况进行了验证。

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.