Simulating medical applications of tissue optical property and shape imaging using open-source ray tracing software

Crowley, Jane; Gordon, George S.

Abstract

Oesophageal cancer and colon cancer have five year survival rates of 15% and 63% respectively. These low survival rates are due in part to poor early detection during endoscopic screening, with conventional endoscopes providing insufficient information about tissue properties to spot a wide range of potential tumours. Improving early detection of gastrointestinal cancers would dramatically increase their five year survival rates. Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging (SFDI) is a low-cost imaging technique that can measure absorption, scattering and shape as potential indicators of cancer. Specific absorption and scattering properties are known to be linked to malignancy in the oesophagus, and shape is an important indicator in colon cancer. Though a range of research and commercial SFDI systems have been developed, adapting these for in vivo clinical application is challenging due to constraints imposed by miniaturisation, sample geometry and illumination conditions. To facilitate design of novel SFDI systems under such constraints, we have developed a model of an SFDI imaging system built on the open-source 3D modelling software Blender. Using Blender’s Cycles ray-tracing engine, we are able to simulate a range of different scattering and absorption coefficients for a number of different imaging configurations, sample geometries and illumination patterns. Using established processing algorithms, we show we can recover maps of absorption, scattering and shape in a range of simulated ex vivo and in vivo imaging geometries with relevance to clinical detection of tumours. Our system enables accessible exploration of different optical configurations and realistic illumination conditions that will inform future design of compact, low-cost instruments.

• Journal Article Type: Conference Paper
• Conference Name: Biomedical Applications of Light Scattering XI
• Conference Location: Online
• Acceptance Date: Feb 12, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Mar 5, 2021
• Publication Date: Mar 5, 2021
• Deposit Date: Mar 31, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 29, 2021
• Journal: Proceedings of SPIE
• Print ISSN: 0277-786X
• Electronic ISSN: 1996-756X
• Publisher: Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11657
• Article Number: 1165707
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2576779
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5425900
• Publisher URL: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie/11657/2576779/Simulating-medical-applications-of-tissue-optical-property-and-shape-imaging/10.1117/12.2576779.short?SSO=1
• Additional Information: Copyright 2021 Society of Photo‑Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this publication for a fee or for commercial purposes, and modification of the contents of the publication are prohibited.