Bioluminescence tomography imaging in vivo: Recent advances

We review the current state-of-the-art of bioluminescence tomography (BLT) imaging, which is an emerging technique for monitoring and assessment of biological processes in vivo. The aim of BLT is to reconstruct 3-D distribution of the internal bioluminescent source using boundary measurements acquired by a BLT imaging system. Thus, BLT becomes a task of solving an inverse problem with an appropriate photon propagation model. In this paper, we discuss recent advances in models of photon transport, and review in detail the current techniques for BLT reconstructions. Specifically, we consider the reconstruction algorithms based on the permissible source region strategy, and multispectral and regularization techniques. The progress in the BLT imaging system is also briefly introduced. Finally, future challenges are also discussed.