Three-dimensional bioluminescence tomography with model-based reconstruction.

A model-based image reconstruction method, bioluminescence tomography (BLT), is described. BLT has the potential to spatially resolve bioluminescence associated with gene expression in vivo, thus, offering a tomographic molecular imaging method. The three-dimensional spatial map of reporter genes is recovered using a diffusion equation model-based, finite element reconstruction algorithm. The imaging method is demonstrated using both numerical simulations and phantom experiments.