title: Overview of bioluminescence tomography--a new molecular imaging modality.
abstract: According to the NIH roadmap, optical molecular imaging has an instrumental role in the development of molecular medicine. Great efforts, including those with bioluminescent imaging techniques, have been made to understand the linkage between genes and phenotypic expressions in normal and disease biology. Currently, bioluminescent techniques are widely used in small animal studies. However, most of the current bioluminescent imaging techniques are done in the 2D mode. In this overview, we review bioluminescence tomography (3D mode), elaborate on its principle and multi-spectral extension, describe associated image unmixing and normalization techniques, and discuss a number of directions for technical improvements and biomedical applications.
authors.affiliation: Bioluminescence Tomography Laboratory, VT-WFU School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1880 Pratt Drive, Suite 2000, MC-0493, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. ge-wang@ieee.org
authors.forename: Ge
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wenxiang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cong
authors.forename: Haiou
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002138:Calibration; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D049449:Luminescence; D051379:Mice; D015233:Models, Statistical; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D013696:Temperature; D014054:Tomography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*