OPTICAL TOMOGRAPHY FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF JOINT DISEASES

描述（改编自申请人的摘要）：本发明的长期目标是： 研究的目的是开发一种光学断层成像方法，以帮助 关节疾病的诊断、表征和监测。近年来， 在这些新的成像方法方面已经取得了相当大的进展。的 在人体上进行光透射测量的技术现在 已在有关的各种试点研究中得到应用 通过监测血氧测定，出血检测， 脑活动的功能成像，阿尔茨海默病的诊断，以及 乳腺癌的诊断光学层析成像（OT）在 关节炎和肌肉骨骼疾病的成像和诊断已经收到 很少注意，即使OT关节成像似乎较少 比乳房或大脑成像更具挑战性。可以预期相对较好的信号 因为透射光强度的噪声比 例如指状关节的相对小的尺寸。此外，委员会认为， 可以预期各种关节部件的光学性质的变化 对于大多数疾病。例如，已知随着类风湿性关节炎的发作， 关节炎时，关节腔内的滑液变得越来越多， 浑浊因此，作为一个具体的例子，申请人建议最初 应用OT诊断和监测关节类风湿性关节炎 的手。要成功地建立一个国际组织，还需要解决两个关键问题。 用于关节的光学断层成像系统的实施。1)由于 在所有关节中存在几乎不分散的滑液， 通常采用的基于扩散理论的图像重建方案不能 应用。2)由于在光学性质上的强烈变化， 关节，广泛使用的扰动理论方法的图像重建 问题是不够的。为了克服现有技术的这些缺陷， 重建算法，并开发光学层析系统 适用于手指关节成像，申请人计划执行 主要研究内容如下：（a）开发无扰动三维重建算法 利用辐射传递理论预测探测器的 读数。(b)确定光学层析成像系统的灵敏度， 各种关节组件的光学特性变化，并评估 图像重建的准确性。(c)将OT结果与临床 类风湿关节炎的症状有哪些？(d)优化性能 的OT成像系统，以实现最小的计算时间。

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from Applicant's Abstract): The long-term goal of this study is to develop an optical tomographic imaging method to assist in the diagnosis, characterization, and monitoring of joint diseases. In recent years, considerable progress has been made toward these novel imaging methods. The technology for making light transmission measurements on human subjects is now readily available and has been applied in a variety of pilot studies concerned with monitoring of blood oxygenation determination, hemorrhage detection, functional imaging of brain activity, diagnosis of Alzheimer disease, and detection of breast cancer. The application of optical tomography (OT) to imaging and diagnosis of arthritis and musculoskeletal disorders has received little attention, even though imaging of joints with OT appears less challenging than breast or brain imaging. One can expect relatively good signal to noise ratios for the transmitted light intensities because of the comparatively small dimensions of, for example, finger joints. Furthermore, changes in the optical properties of various joint components can be expected for most diseases. For example, it is known that with the onset of rheumatoid arthritis, the synovial fluid in the articular cavity becomes increasingly turbid. Therefore, as a specific example, the applicants proposed to initially apply OT to the diagnosis and monitoring of rheumatoid arthritis in the joints of the hand. There remain two key problems to be solved for a successful implementation of an optical tomographic imaging system for joints. 1) Due to the presence of the almost non-scattering synovial fluid in all joints, commonly employed diffusion-theory-based image reconstruction schemes cannot be applied. 2) Due to the strong variation in optical properties within the joints, widely used perturbation-theory approaches to the image reconstruction problem are insufficient. To overcome these deficiencies of currently available reconstruction algorithms, and to develop an optical tomographic system suitable for imaging finger joints, the applicant plans to perform the following studies: (a) Develop non-perturbation 3D-reconstruction algorithm that uses the theory of radiative transfer for the prediction of detector readings. (b) Determine sensitivity of optical tomographic image system to changes in the optical properties of various joint components and evaluate accuracy of image reconstruction. (c) Correlate OT results with clinical findings of rheumatoid arthritis in finger joints. (d) Optimize the performance of the OT imaging system to achieve minimal computation time.