Spatial sensitivity to absorption changes for various near-infrared spectroscopy methods: A compendium review

This compendium review focuses on the spatial distribution of sensitivity to localized absorption changes in optically diffuse media, particularly for measurements relevant to near-infrared spectroscopy. The three temporal domains, continuous wave, frequency domain, and time domain, each obtain different optical data types whose changes may be related to effective homogeneous changes in the absorption coefficient. Sensitivity is the relationship between a localized perturbation and the recovered effective homogeneous absorption change. Therefore, spatial sensitivity maps representing the perturbation location can be generated for the numerous optical data types in the three temporal domains. The review first presents a history of the past 30 years of work investigating this sensitivity in optically diffuse media. These works are experimental and theoretical, presenting one-, two-, and three-dimensional sensitivity maps for different Near-Infrared Spectroscopy methods, domains, and data types. Following this history, we present a compendium of sensitivity maps organized by temporal domain and then data type. This compendium provides a valuable tool to compare the spatial sensitivity of various measurement methods and parameters in one document. Methods for one to generate these maps are provided in Appendix A, including the code. This historical review and comprehensive sensitivity map compendium provides a single source researchers may use to visualize, investigate, compare, and generate sensitivity to localized absorption change maps.