Evaluation of improvement of diffuse optical imaging of brain function by high-density probe arrangements and imaging algorithms

Diffuse optical imaging has been applied to measure the localized hemodynamic responses to brain activation. One of the serious problems with diffuse optical imaging is the limitation of the spatial resolution caused by the sparse probe arrangement and broadened spatial sensitivity profile for each probe pair. High-density probe arrangements and an image reconstruction algorithm considering the broadening of the spatial sensitivity can improve the spatial resolution of the image. In this study, the diffuse optical imaging of the absorption change in the brain is simulated to evaluate the effect of the high-density probe arrangements and imaging methods. The localization error, equivalent full-width half maximum and circularity of the absorption change in the image obtained by the mapping and reconstruction methods from the data measured by five probe arrangements are compared to quantitatively evaluate the imaging methods and probe arrangements. The simple mapping method is sufficient for the density of the measurement points up to the double-density probe arrangement. The image reconstruction method considering the broadening of the spatial sensitivity of the probe pairs can effectively improve the spatial resolution of the image obtained from the probe arrangements higher than the quadruple density, in which the distance between the neighboring measurement points is 10.6 mm.