title: Evaluation of spatial resolution as a function of thickness for time-resolved optical imaging of highly scattering media.
abstract: Previous experimental and theoretical investigations of the utility of time-resolved methods as a means of optical imaging through the human breast have indicated that a spatial resolution of approximately 1 cm is achievable by isolating the shortest path length photons which propagate through the tissue. Studies have also shown that resolution may be improved further by extrapolating the measured distribution using an appropriate model of photon transport. The experiments described here were performed in order to observe the relationship between achievable spatial resolution and the thickness of the medium. For a given time gate, an improvement in the spatial resolution was observed as the object thickness was reduced. Overall, the results indicate that a breast compression of about 1 cm may improve the limiting spatial resolution by as much as 7 mm. Less encouraging is the implication that temporal extrapolation over several orders of magnitude in intensity is required to achieve a comparable improvement in spatial resolution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics, University College London, England.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hebden
authors.forename: D T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Delpy
mesh_terms: D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D001940:Breast / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D017785:Photons; D012542:Scattering, Radiation