Patent ID: 7804075

Claim:
A system for optical tomography, comprising: an apparent light source configured to project excitation light toward a specimen having fluorescent proteins therein, wherein the excitation light enters the specimen becoming intrinsic light within the specimen, wherein the intrinsic light is configured to excite fluorescent light from the fluorescent proteins, and wherein at least one of the intrinsic light or the fluorescent light has a wavelength within a visible wavelength range, the visible wavelength range spanning from about 400 nanometers to about 700 nanometers; a light detector configured to receive the intrinsic light exiting the specimen and configured to receive the fluorescent light exiting the specimen; and an image processor coupled to the light detector and configured to use a light propagation model, wherein the light propagation model is configured to predict propagation of visible light in a diffuse medium, wherein the image processor comprises a diffusion equation processor configured to use a diffusion equation having a modified diffusion coefficient selected in accordance with the propagation of visible light in the diffuse medium throughout a substantial portion of the visible wavelength range, wherein the modified diffusion coefficient has the form D α = 1 3 ⁢ ( μ s ′ + αμ a ) , where α is a constant having a value depending on absorption, scattering, and anisotropy of the diffuse medium, μ s ′ is a reduced scattering coefficient, and μ a is an absorption coefficient.