Simultaneous imaging and optode calibration with diffuse optical tomography

In order for diffuse optical tomography to realize its potential of obtaining quantitative images of spatially varying optical properties within random media, several potential experimental systematic errors must be overcome. One of these errors is the calibration of the emitter strength and detector efficiency/gain. While in principle these parameters can be determined accurately prior to an imaging experiment, slight fluctuations will cause significant image artifacts. For this reason, it is necessary to consider including their calibration as part of the inverse problem for image reconstruction. In this paper, we show that this can be done successfully in a linear reconstruction model with simulated continuous-wave data. The technique is general for frequency and time domain data. © 2001 Optical Society of America.