Deconvolution of laser based images for monitoring rheumatoid arthritis

Optical imaging in biomedicine is governed by the light absorption and scattering interaction on microscopic and macroscopic constituents in the medium. Therefore, light scattering characteristics of human tissue correlate with the stage of some diseases. In the near infrared range the scattering event with the coefficient approximately two orders of magnitude greater than absorption plays a dominant role. When measuring the optical parameters variations were discovered that correlate with the rheumatoid arthritis of a small joint. The potential of an experimental setup for transillumination of the finger joint with a laser diode and the pattern of the stray light detection are demonstrated. The scattering caused by skin contains no useful information and it can be removed by a deconvolution technique to enhance the diagnostic value of this non‐invasive optical method. Monte Carlo simulations ensure both the construction of the corresponding point spread function and the theoretical verification of the stray light picture in rather complex geometry. (© 2005 by Astro, Ltd. Published exclusively by WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA)