INTEGRATED FLUORESCENCE DIFFUSE OPTICAL TOMOGRAPHY & MICRO-CT

这个子项目是利用资源的许多研究子项目之一。 由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。对子项目的主要支持 子项目的首席调查员可能是由其他来源提供的， 包括美国国立卫生研究院的其他来源。为子项目列出的总成本可能 表示该子项目使用的中心基础设施的估计数量， 不是由NCRR赠款提供给次级项目或次级项目工作人员的直接资金。 使用荧光探针是体内分子成像的重要方法，特别是在研究小动物癌症模型时。尽管如此，由于缺乏断层成像能力，荧光成像主要局限于浅层组织的地形图。荧光漫射光学层析成像(F-DOT)是一种能够解决三维空间中荧光团浓度分布问题的新兴技术。然而，现有的大多数技术需要光纤将光源和探测器与动物耦合，这大大限制了它的应用和可实现的分辨率。我们正在实施一种非接触式的F-DOT系统，它使用光栅扫描脉冲激光和时间选通的具有旋转状态的增强型CCD(ICCD)相机来解析动物的三维荧光图像。我们将展示我们使用扫描连续波半导体激光器进行的体模研究的初步结果。在脉冲激光和时间门控采集；正则化图像重建技术；以及与我们的Micro-CT系统同时进行多模式成像方面，进一步的研究正在进行中。 我们发展了一种用于小动物体内成像的荧光扩散光学层析成像(FDOT)方法，该方法利用X射线显微CT数据作为结构先验信息来辅助FDOT重建。该项目涉及硬件和方法开发，特别是FDOT的正反问题解算器。该项目的总体目标是提高FDOT在临床前成像应用中的可实现分辨率。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. Using fluorescent probes is an important methodology for in vivo molecular imaging, particularly to study small animal cancer models. Nonetheless the lack of tomographical imaging capability is limiting fluorescence imaging primarily to topographical mapping of superficial tissue. Fluorescence diffuse optical tomography (F-DOT) is an emerging technology capable of resolving the distribution of fluorophore concentration in 3-D. However, the majority of existing techniques require fiber-optics to couple the light sources and detectors with the animal, which significantly restricts its applications and achievable resolution. We are implementing a non-contact F-DOT system that uses raster-scanning pulsed laser and time-gated intensified CCD (ICCD) camera with a rotational state for the animal to resolve 3-D fluorescence images. We will demonstrate our preliminary result from a phantom study using a scanning continuous-wave diode laser. Further study is under way in the directions of pulsed laser and time-gated acquisition; regularized image reconstruction techniques; and simultaneous multimodal imaging with our micro-CT system. We developed a fluorescence diffusion optical tomography (FDOT) method for in vivo imaging of small animals, which use x-ray micro-CT data as the structural a priori information to assist the FDOT reconstruction. This project involves hardware and methodology development, particularly the forward and inverse problem solvers for FDOT. The overall goal of the project is to increase the achievable resolution of FDOT for preclinical imaging applications.