A time-domain NIR brain imager applied in functional stimulation experiments

Heidrun Wabnitz; Michael Moeller; Adam Liebert; Alfred Walter; Rainer Erdmann; Olaf Raitza; Christoph Drenckhahn; Jens P. Dreier; Hellmuth Obrig; Jens Steinbrink; Rainer Macdonald

doi:10.1117/12.632837

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7 October 2005 A time-domain NIR brain imager applied in functional stimulation experiments

Heidrun Wabnitz, Michael Moeller, Adam Liebert, Alfred Walter, Rainer Erdmann, Olaf Raitza, Christoph Drenckhahn, Jens P. Dreier, Hellmuth Obrig, Jens Steinbrink, Rainer Macdonald

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Proceedings Volume 5859, Photon Migration and Diffuse-Light Imaging II; 58590H (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.632837
Event: European Conferences on Biomedical Optics 2005, 2005, Munich, Germany

Abstract

We developed a time-domain brain imager that is based on picosecond diode lasers, a multimode fiber switch and multi-channel time-correlated single photon counting. It allows to record time-resolved diffuse reflectance for 16 source-detector pairs within typically 1 s. Data analysis was based on the evaluation of moments of measured distributions of times of flight of photons. To show the relevance of these moments for achieving depth selectivity, three-dimensional sensitivities of integral, mean time of flight and variance to absorption changes were calculated using a perturbation approach based on the diffusion equation for photon density for a homogeneous semi-infinite medium. It turned out that variance is almost exclusively sensitive to deep layers, whereas the integral reflects changes in deep as well as in superficial layers. The lateral resolution of the imager was demonstrated by a phantom experiment. Results of a motor stimulation experiment on a healthy volunteer strongly suggest that variance reveals mainly the cerebral activation whereas the integral may additionally contain significant systemic contributions.

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Heidrun Wabnitz, Michael Moeller, Adam Liebert, Alfred Walter, Rainer Erdmann, Olaf Raitza, Christoph Drenckhahn, Jens P. Dreier, Hellmuth Obrig, Jens Steinbrink, and Rainer Macdonald "A time-domain NIR brain imager applied in functional stimulation experiments", Proc. SPIE 5859, Photon Migration and Diffuse-Light Imaging II, 58590H (7 October 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.632837

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