Fast single photon avalanche photodiode-based time-resolved diffuse optical tomography scanner.

Resolution in diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is a persistent problem and is primarily limited by high degree of light scatter in biological tissue. We showed previously that the reduction in photon scatter between a source and detector pair at early time points following a laser pulse in time-resolved DOT is highly dependent on the temporal response of the instrument. To this end, we developed a new single-photon avalanche photodiode (SPAD) based time-resolved DOT scanner. This instrument uses an array of fast SPADs, a femto-second Titanium Sapphire laser and single photon counting electronics. In combination, the overall instrument temporal impulse response function width was 59 ps. In this paper, we report the design of this instrument and validate its operation in symmetrical and irregularly shaped optical phantoms of approximately small animal size. We were able to accurately reconstruct the size and position of up to 4 absorbing inclusions, with increasing image quality at earlier time windows. We attribute these results primarily to the rapid response time of our instrument. These data illustrate the potential utility of fast SPAD detectors in time-resolved DOT.