Development of three-dimensional physiological function imaging of biological body by transillumination imaging using near infrared light - preliminary research -

In biological tissue, there are different kinds of endogenous chromophores. Their absorption spectra in the optical range are sensitive to the physiological change of the animal body. In the near-infrared region (700-1200 nm wavelength), hemoglobin has a characteristic absorption spectrum which is dependent on its redox state. Therefore, the functional information inside the animal body could be obtained noninvasively by measuring the transmitted light. By detecting the change of the absorption characteristics of the animal body, the functional change inside the body can be detected in a two-dimensional transillumination image. In this paper, we propose preliminary research on developing a novel imaging modality of biological body parts. Using the two-dimensional images obtained in many different orientations, three-dimensional physiological function imaging of the biological body by transillumination could be expected. This paper presents a preliminary result in the experiment to show the feasibility of this technique.