Three-dimensional tomographic reconstruction of an absorptive perturbation with diffuse photon density waves

A three-dimensional tomographic reconstruction algorithm for an absorptive perturbation in tissue is derived. The input consists of multiple two-dimensional projected views of tissue that is backilluminated with diffuse photon density waves. The algorithm is based on a generalization of the projection-slice theorem and consists of depth estimation, image deconvolution, filtering, and backprojection. The formalism provides estimates of the number of views necessary to achieve a given spatial resolution in the reconstruction. The algorithm is demonstrated with data simulated to mimic the absorption of a contrast agent in human tissue. The effects of noise and uncertainties in the depth estimate are explored. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America [S0740-3232(00)01501-5].