A homogenized cerebrospinal fluid model for diffuse optical tomography in the neonatal head.

Diffuse optical tomography is a non-invasive and non-irradiating medical imaging technique that is particularly suitable for cerebral monitoring of newborns since it can be used at the bedside of the patient. Here, a new model for optical tomography in the neonatal brain is presented that takes into account the presence of arachnoid trabeculae in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). It is known that the classical diffusion approximation (DA) for light propagation is at the limit of validity in the CSF layer due to the low values of the absorption and scattering coefficients.