title: Three-dimensional reconstruction in free-space whole-body fluorescence tomography of mice using optically reconstructed surface and atlas anatomy.
abstract: We present a 3-D image reconstruction method for free-space fluorescence tomography of mice using hybrid anatomical prior information. Specifically, we use an optically reconstructed surface of the experimental animal and a digital mouse atlas to approximate the anatomy of the animal as structural priors to assist image reconstruction. Experiments are carried out on a cadaver of a nude mouse with a fluorescent inclusion (2.4-mm-diam cylinder) implanted in the chest cavity. Tomographic fluorescence images are reconstructed using an iterative algorithm based on a finite element method. Coregistration of the fluorescence reconstruction and micro-CT (computed tomography) data acquired afterward show good localization accuracy (localization error 1.2+/-0.6 mm). Using the optically reconstructed surface, but without the atlas anatomy, image reconstruction fails to show the fluorescent inclusion correctly. The method demonstrates the utility of anatomical priors in support of free-space fluorescence tomography.
authors.affiliation: Duke University Medical Center, Center for In Vivo Microscopy, Box 3302, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA. steve.zhang@duke.edu
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Cristian T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Badea
authors.forename: G Allan
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*; D013817:Thermography; D014054:Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D051598:Whole Body Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography