Imaging of spatiotemporal coincident states by dynamic optical tomography

The utility of optical tomography as a static imaging modality is limited by its intrinsically low spatial resolution and quantitative accuracy. When applied to dynamic measurements, however, optical imaging methods have the potential to assess tissue function as revealed by temporal variations in tissue optical properties. These variations are a consequence of vascular hemodynamic processes, which are known to exhibit considerable spatiotemporal heterogeneity. In this report we provide evidence, from simulation, that complex dynamic behavior in optical coefficients occurring in localized regions in highly scattering media can be accurately characterized by the method of dynamic optical tomography, even in the limiting case of spatiotemporally coincident behavior