Application of the finite-element method for the forward and inverse models in optical tomography (Q1318572)

The authors introduce a model for the simulation of photon propagation in a biological tissue. The reconstruction problem is ill-posed because of scatter-dominated photon propagation. The iterative image recovery algorithm described in this paper uses a numerical finite element solution to the diffusion equation. The advantage of the numerical solution approach is its flexibility. It can be applied to more complex geometries and inhomogeneous parameter distributions, which is essential for use in an iterative reconstruction method. The authors have developed two- and three-dimensional versions of the model for circular and cylindrical tissue samples. Only the two- dimensional model is used in the solution method for the inverse problem. Numerical results and computer graphics are presented.