Fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) emerges as a powerful non-invasive imaging tool with the ability to resolve fluorescence signals from sources located deep in living tissues. Yet, the accuracy of FMT reconstruction depends on the deviation of the assumed optical properties from the actual values. In this work, we improved the accuracy of the initial optical properties required for FMT using a new-generation time-domain (TD) near-infrared optical tomography (NIROT) system, which effectively decouples scattering and absorption coefficients. We proposed a multimodal paradigm combining TD-NIROT and continuous-wave (CW) FMT. Both numerical simulation and experiments were performed on a heterogeneous phantom containing a fluorescent inclusion. The results demonstrate significant improvement in the FMT reconstruction by taking the NIROT-derived optical properties as prior information. The multimodal method is attractive for preclinical studies and tumor diagnostics since both functional and molecular information can be obtained.

中文翻译：

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结合时域近红外光学层析成像和连续波荧光分子层析成像的多峰成像

荧光分子层析成像（FMT）成为一种强大的非侵入性成像工具，能够分辨来自位于活组织深处的光源的荧光信号。但是，FMT重建的准确性取决于假定光学特性与实际值的偏差。在这项工作中，我们使用新一代时域（TD）近红外光学层析成像（NIROT）系统提高了FMT所需的初始光学性能的准确性，该系统有效地消除了散射系数和吸收系数。我们提出了结合TD-NIROT和连续波（CW）FMT的多模式范例。对包含荧光夹杂物的异质体模进行数值模拟和实验。结果表明，通过将NIROT派生的光学特性作为先验信息，可以显着改善FMT重建。由于可以获得功能和分子信息，因此多峰方法对于临床前研究和肿瘤诊断很有吸引力。