Optical tomography

Optical tomography is a form of computed tomography that creates a digital volumetric model of an object by reconstructing images made from light transmitted and scattered through an object. Optical tomography is used mostly as a form of medical imaging.

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Optical tomography relies on the object under study being at least partially light-transmitting, so it works best on soft tissues; imaging of breast and brain tissue are examples.

The high attenuation involved is generally dealt with by using intense, often pulsed, light sources, and highly sensitive light sensors, and the use of infrared light at frequencies where body tissues are most transmissive.

One recent variant of optical tomography uses optical time-of-flight sampling as an attempt to distinguish transmitted light from scattered light.

See also

• Optical coherence tomography
• Diffuse optical imaging