Skip to main content

3D Monte Carlo simulation of light distribution in mouse brain in quantitative photoacoustic computed tomography.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Tang, Y; Yao, J
Published in: Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery
March 2021

Photoacoustic computed tomography (PACT) detects light-induced ultrasound (US) waves to reconstruct the optical absorption contrast of the biological tissues. Due to its relatively deep penetration (several centimeters in soft tissue), high spatial resolution, and inherent functional sensitivity, PACT has great potential for imaging mouse brains with endogenous and exogenous contrasts, which is of immense interest to the neuroscience community. However, conventional PACT either assumes homogenous optical fluence within the brain or uses a simplified attenuation model for optical fluence estimation. Both approaches underestimate the complexity of the fluence heterogeneity and can result in poor quantitative imaging accuracy.To optimize the quantitative performance of PACT, we explore for the first time 3D Monte Carlo (MC) simulation to study the optical fluence distribution in a complete mouse brain model. We apply the MCX MC simulation package on a digital mouse (Digimouse) brain atlas that has complete anatomy information. To evaluate the impact of the brain vasculature on light delivery, we also incorporate the whole-brain vasculature in the Digimouse atlas. k-wave toolbox was used to investigate the effect of inhomogeneous illumination on the reconstructed images and chromophore concentration estimation.The simulation results clearly show that the optical fluence in the mouse brain is heterogeneous at the global level and can decrease by a factor of five with increasing depth. Moreover, the strong absorption and scattering of the brain vasculature also induce the fluence disturbance at the local level.Both global and local fluence heterogeneity contributes to the reduced quantitative accuracy of the reconstructed PACT images of mouse brain. Correcting the optical fluence distribution can improve the quantitative accuracy of PACT.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery

DOI

EISSN

2223-4306

ISSN

2223-4292

Publication Date

March 2021

Volume

11

Issue

3

Start / End Page

1046 / 1059

Related Subject Headings

  • 5102 Atomic, molecular and optical physics
  • 4003 Biomedical engineering
  • 0299 Other Physical Sciences
  • 0205 Optical Physics
  • 0204 Condensed Matter Physics
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Tang, Y., & Yao, J. (2021). 3D Monte Carlo simulation of light distribution in mouse brain in quantitative photoacoustic computed tomography. Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery, 11(3), 1046–1059. https://doi.org/10.21037/qims-20-815
Tang, Yuqi, and Junjie Yao. “3D Monte Carlo simulation of light distribution in mouse brain in quantitative photoacoustic computed tomography.Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery 11, no. 3 (March 2021): 1046–59. https://doi.org/10.21037/qims-20-815.
Tang Y, Yao J. 3D Monte Carlo simulation of light distribution in mouse brain in quantitative photoacoustic computed tomography. Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery. 2021 Mar;11(3):1046–59.
Tang, Yuqi, and Junjie Yao. “3D Monte Carlo simulation of light distribution in mouse brain in quantitative photoacoustic computed tomography.Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery, vol. 11, no. 3, Mar. 2021, pp. 1046–59. Epmc, doi:10.21037/qims-20-815.
Tang Y, Yao J. 3D Monte Carlo simulation of light distribution in mouse brain in quantitative photoacoustic computed tomography. Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery. 2021 Mar;11(3):1046–1059.

Published In

Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery

DOI

EISSN

2223-4306

ISSN

2223-4292

Publication Date

March 2021

Volume

11

Issue

3

Start / End Page

1046 / 1059

Related Subject Headings

  • 5102 Atomic, molecular and optical physics
  • 4003 Biomedical engineering
  • 0299 Other Physical Sciences
  • 0205 Optical Physics
  • 0204 Condensed Matter Physics