Real Time Imaging of Human Brain Hemodynamics Based on Diffuse Optical Tomography
Abstract：A new probe for the neuroscience to explore the brain is the technology of functional neuroimaging, which can provide dynamic process of brain areas involving into certain cognition, behavior or in a brain disease. The hemodynamics is a critical index to reflect neuronal activity. Functional magnetic resonance imaging and functional near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is widely used to detect the hemodynamics signals non-invasively. But they are limited by inherent shortages due to system complexity and low spatial resolution, respectively. In order to increase the spatial resolution and capture the hemodynamics in real time, the project is supposed to improve the diffusion optical tomography (DOT) to detect the hemodynamics of human brain in real time. In the project, it is the first step to configure a high-density DOT imaging system and arrange opcodes covering the region of the interest optimally to detect the hemodynamics in different depth. This technique will overcome the unite depth in existing NIRS systems and obtain the oxygenation of different depth. The second step is to propose a real-time reconstruction
algorithm, which is to reconstruct the brain hemodynamics from the changes of near infrared. The algorithm will take the place of existing off-line reconstruction and present a real-time hemodynamics. The seamless integration of DOT imaging system and real-time reconstruction algorithm will present a way of visualizing the hemodynamics in a portable system. It not only can lend itself to study brain functional activity under certain task, but also provides a new brain-computer interface to be employed as a inline feedback technique for the neurology rehabilitation.
Keywords: neuro-hemodynamics; diffuse optical tomography; image reconstruction; inverse problem
Contact:
ZHANG Xin
E-mail: xzhang@nlpr.ia.ac.cn