Optical tomography in medical imaging

TLDR

This review surveys methods for solving forward and inverse problems in optical tomography. The discussion focuses on highly scattering medical imaging, derives diffusion approximations and sensitivity relations, and emphasizes finite element methods. The authors classify algorithms and propose open research problems for future investigation.

Abstract

We present a review of methods for the forward and inverse problems in optical tomography. We limit ourselves to the highly scattering case found in applications in medical imaging, and to the problem of absorption and scattering reconstruction. We discuss the derivation of the diffusion approximation and other simplifications of the full transport problem. We develop sensitivity relations in both the continuous and discrete case with special concentration on the use of the finite element method. A classification of algorithms is presented, and some suggestions for open problems to be addressed in future research are made.