Jc Hebden

Diffuse optical imaging of the healthy and diseased breast: A systematic review

Screening X-ray mammography is limited by false positives and negatives leading to unnecessary physical and psychological morbidity. Diffuse Optical Imaging using harmless near infra red light, provides lesion detection based on functional abnormalities and represents a novel diagnostic arm that could complement traditional mammography. Reviews of optical breast imaging have not been systematic, are focused mainly on technological developments, and have become superseded by rapid technological advancement. The aim of this study is to review clinically orientated studies involving approximately 2,000 women in whom optical mammography has been used to evaluate the healthy or diseased breast. The results suggest that approximately 85% of breast lesions are detectable on optical mammography. Spectroscopic resolution of tissue haemoglobin composition and oxygen saturation may improve the detectability of breast diseases. Results suggest that breast lesions contain approximately twice the haemoglobin concentration of background tissue. Current evidence suggests that it is not possible to distinguish benign from malignant disease using optical imaging techniques in isolation. Methods to improve the performance of Diffuse Optical Imaging, such as better spectral coverage with additional wavelengths, improved modelling of light transport in tissues and the use of extrinsic dyes may augment lesion detection and characterisation. Future research should involve large clinical trials to determine the overall sensitivity and specificity of optical imaging techniques as well as to establish patient satisfaction and economic viability.

Three dimensional optical imaging of blood volume and oxygenation in the neonatal brain

Optical methods provide a means of monitoring cerebral oxygenation in newborn infants at risk of brain injury. A 32-channel optical imaging system has been developed with the aim of reconstructing three-dimensional images of regional blood volume and oxygenation. Full image data sets were acquired from 14 out of 24 infants studied; successful images have been reconstructed in 8 of these infants. Regional variations in cerebral blood volume and tissue oxygen saturation are present in healthy preterm infants. In an infant with a large unilateral intraventricular haemorrhage, a corresponding region of low oxygen saturation was detected. These results suggest that optical tomography may provide an appropriate technique for investigating regional cerebral haemodynamics and oxygenation at the cotside.

Multispectral imaging of the ocular fundus using light emitting diode illumination

We present an imaging system based on light emitting diode (LED) illumination that produces multispectral optical images of the human ocular fundus. It uses a conventional fundus camera equipped with a high power LED light source and a highly sensitive electron-multiplying charge coupled device camera. It is able to take pictures at a series of wavelengths in rapid succession at short exposure times, thereby eliminating the image shift introduced by natural eye movements (saccades). In contrast with snapshot systems the images retain full spatial resolution. The system is not suitable for applications where the full spectral resolution is required as it uses discrete wavebands for illumination. This is not a problem in retinal imaging where the use of selected wavelengths is common. The modular nature of the light source allows new wavelengths to be introduced easily and at low cost. The use of wavelength-specific LEDs as a source is preferable to white light illumination and subsequent filtering of the remitted light as it minimizes the total light exposure of the subject. The system is controlled via a graphical user interface that enables flexible control of intensity, duration, and sequencing of sources in synchrony with the camera. Our initial experiments indicate that the system can acquire multispectral image sequences of the human retina at exposure times of 0.05 s in the range of 500-620 nm with mean signal to noise ratio of 17 dB (min 11, std 4.5), making it suitable for quantitative analysis with application to the diagnosis and screening of eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration.

Linear and nonlinear reconstruction for optical tomography of phantoms with nonscattering regions

Most research in optical imaging incorrectly assumes that light transport in nonscattering regions in the head may be modeled by use of the diffusion approximation. The effect of this assumption is examined in a series of experiments on tissue-equivalent phantoms. Images from cylindrical and head-shaped phantoms with and without clear regions [simulating the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) filled ventricles] and a clear layer (simulating the CSF layer surrounding the brain) are reconstructed with linear and nonlinear reconstruction techniques. The results suggest that absorbing and scattering perturbations can be identified reliably with nonlinear reconstruction methods when the clear regions are also present in the reference data but that the quality of the image degrades considerably if the reference data does not contain these features. Linear reconstruction performs similarly to nonlinear reconstruction, provided the clear regions are present in the reference data, but otherwise linear reconstruction fails. This study supports the use of linear reconstruction for dynamic imaging but suggests that, in all cases, image quality is likely to improve if the clear regions are modeled correctly.

The use of tissue mimicking phantoms in analysing contrast in THz pulsed imaging of biological tissue

In this study, tissue mimicking phantoms for the THz regime were developed to aid the current understanding of contrast mechanisms of tissue with THz pulsed imaging (TPI). The phantoms, compromising mixtures of water and protein, mimic biological tissue in both spatial and spectroscopic regimes. THz spectroscopy of the individual phantom constituents was compared with reflection measurements of phantoms of varying compositions. Phantom composition was varied enabling the emulation of specific tissue properties, thus allowing the analysis of parameters such as the error with which discreet components can be identified; 7.5% for low gelatin concentration gels and 17% for higher concentration gels. Identifying this uncertainty is important when imaging tissues that have surface features not obvious to other techniques such as visible imaging of dysplasia.

A frequency multiplexed near infra-red topography system for imaging functional activation in the brain

We have developed a novel near-infrared optical topography system that can acquire images at 10 frames per second. It uses frequency multiplexed sources, and FFT detection.

Quality assurance in proton beam therapy using a plastic scintillator and a commercially available digital camera

Abstract Purpose In this article, we evaluate a plastic scintillation detector system for quality assurance in proton therapy using a BC‐408 plastic scintillator, a commercial camera, and a computer. Methods The basic characteristics of the system were assessed in a series of proton irradiations. The reproducibility and response to changes of dose, dose‐rate, and proton energy were determined. Photographs of the scintillation light distributions were acquired, and compared with Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations and with depth‐dose curves measured with an ionization chamber. A quenching effect was observed at the Bragg peak of the 60 MeV proton beam where less light was produced than expected. We developed an approach using Birks equation to correct for this quenching. We simulated the linear energy transfer (LET) as a function of depth in Geant4 and found Birks constant by comparing the calculated LET and measured scintillation light distribution. We then used the derived value of Birks constant to correct the measured scintillation light distribution for quenching using Geant4. Results The corrected light output from the scintillator increased linearly with dose. The system is stable and offers short‐term reproducibility to within 0.80%. No dose rate dependency was observed in this work. Conclusions This approach offers an effective way to correct for quenching, and could provide a method for rapid, convenient, routine quality assurance for clinical proton beams. Furthermore, the system has the advantage of providing 2D visualization of individual radiation fields, with potential application for quality assurance of complex, time‐varying fields.

Development of a Near Infrared Multi-Wavelength, Multi-Channel, Time-Resolved Spectrometer for Measuring Brain Tissue Haemodynamics and Metabolism

We present a novel time domain functional near infrared spectroscopy system using a supercontinuum laser allowing us to measure the coefficient of absorption and scattering of up to 16 multiplexed wavelengths in the near infrared region. This is a four detector system that generates up to 3 mW of light for each wavelength with a narrow 2–3 nm FWHM bandwidth between 650 and 890 nm; each measurement of 16 wavelengths per channel can be performed up to a rate of 1 Hz. We can therefore quantify absolute haemoglobin changes in tissue and are currently investigating which and how many wavelengths are needed to resolve additional chromophores in tissue, such as water and the oxidation state of cytochrome-c-oxidase.

Neurovascular Interactions in the Neurologically Compromised Neonatal Brain

Neurological brain injuries such as hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) and associated conditions such as seizures have been associated with poor developmental outcome in neonates. Our limited knowledge of the neurological and cerebrovascular processes underlying seizures limits their diagnosis and timely treatment. Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) provides haemodynamic information in the form of changes in concentration of de/oxygenated haemoglobin, which can improve our understanding of seizures and the relationship between neural and vascular processes. Using simultaneous EEG-DOT, we observed distinct haemodynamic changes which are temporally correlated with electrographic seizures. Here, we present DOT-EEG data from two neonates clinically diagnosed as HIE. Our results highlight the wealth of mutually-informative data that can be obtained using DOT-EEG techniques to understand neurovascular coupling in HIE neonates.

Near infrared topography with depth information for the detection of face perception in infants

Near infrared intensity signals were recorded from 3 different depths of the visual cortex with a 30-channel system from 12 young infants to detect subtle differences in processing stimuli with different degrees of complexity.