Improving diffuse optical tomography imaging quality using APU-Net: an attention-based physical U-Net model.

Significance: Traditional diffuse optical tomography (DOT) reconstructions are hampered by image artifacts arising from factors such as DOT sources being closer to shallow lesions, poor optode-tissue coupling, tissue heterogeneity, and large high-contrast lesions lacking information in deeper regions (known as shadowing effect). Addressing these challenges is crucial for improving the quality of DOT images and obtaining robust lesion diagnosis.

Aim: We address the limitations of current DOT imaging reconstruction by introducing an attention-based U-Net (APU-Net) model to enhance the image quality of DOT reconstruction, ultimately improving lesion diagnostic accuracy.

Approach: We designed an APU-Net model incorporating a contextual transformer attention module to enhance DOT reconstruction. The model was trained on simulation and phantom data, focusing on challenges such as artifact-induced distortions and lesion-shadowing effects. The model was then evaluated by the clinical data.

Results: Transitioning from simulation and phantom data to clinical patients' data, our APU-Net model effectively reduced artifacts with an average artifact contrast decrease of 26.83% and improved image quality. In addition, statistical analyses revealed significant contrast improvements in depth profile with an average contrast increase of 20.28% and 45.31% for the second and third target layers, respectively. These results highlighted the efficacy of our approach in breast cancer diagnosis.

Conclusions: The APU-Net model improves the image quality of DOT reconstruction by reducing DOT image artifacts and improving the target depth profile.