Diffuse optical tomography and spectroscopy performance assessment: phantoms and methodology

Abstract

This study describes the process of design, development and validation of phantoms that mimic the optical properties of human tissue that could be used for performance verification of Diffuse Optical Tomography (DOT) and Diffuse Optical Spectroscopy (DOS) instruments. The process starts with choosing and qualifying the ingredients (hosting matrix, scatterers and absorbers) that allow adjusting of the scattering and absorption coefficients independently and linearly scalable. Results of the evaluation of liquid and solid phantoms are presented. In addition, the study evaluates the reproducibility and long-term stability of the designed phantoms. The results show that some of the phantoms could be reliable references for performance assessment and periodic calibration-validation of the systems, during pre-clinical and clinical stages.