title: Improving limited-projection-angle fluorescence molecular tomography using a co-registered x-ray computed tomography scan.
abstract: We examine the improvement in imaging performance, such as axial resolution and signal localization, when employing limited-projection-angle fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) together with x-ray computed tomography (XCT) measurements versus stand-alone FMT. For this purpose, we employed living mice, bearing a spontaneous lung tumor model, and imaged them with FMT and XCT under identical geometrical conditions using fluorescent probes for cancer targeting. The XCT data was employed, herein, as structural prior information to guide the FMT reconstruction. Gold standard images were provided by fluorescence images of mouse cryoslices, providing the ground truth in fluorescence bio-distribution. Upon comparison of FMT images versus images reconstructed using hybrid FMT and XCT data, we demonstrate marked improvements in image accuracy. This work relates to currently disseminated FMT systems, using limited projection scans, and can be employed to enhance their performance.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstrasse 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Radrich
authors.forename: Angelique
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ale
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ermolayev
authors.forename: Vasilis
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ntziachristos
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D051379:Mice; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013382:Subtraction Technique; D041622:Tomography, Optical / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*