Model Based Algorithms for Structural and Functional Dual Modality MRI and Optical Imaging

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In this work, a novel imaging technique will be explored that uses non-harmful application of near infrared light to determine the properties of tissue. Using this technique, known as near infrared tomography, an optical fiber placed on the surface of the region of interest, the breast, delivers an input signal while other optical fibers placed at different locations on the same surface detect the out-coming photons which have propagated through the volume under investigation. The intensity and pathlength distributions of the exiting light provide information about the optical properties of the transilluminated tissue using a model-based interpretation where photon propagation can be simulated by the diffusion theory. Tissue optical properties have shown to be a function of their structure and more importantly, their physiological state. It is these qualities that provide an alternative non-hazardous method for the detection and characterization of tumor within breast tissue and other tissue e.g. brain physiology. An important aspect for the success and accuracy of this method is the use of adequate modelling of light within biological tissue. In this work, we will use a Finite Element Model to calculate and predict light transport. Using such technique, we are able to determine, to some accuracy, the distribution of internal optical properties of the tissue under investigation which in turn will provide information about the patho-physiological state of the tissue under investigation.