Influence of the difference in refractive index on the interface of an object and the surroundings in near-infrared fluorescence tomography

The refraction of fluorescence from the inside of a sample at the surface results in fluctuations in fluorescence computed tomography (CT). We evaluated the influence of the difference in refractive index (RI) between the sample body and the surroundings on fluorescence CT results. The brightest fluorescent point is away from the correct point on the tomograms owing to the refraction. The speculated position is determined as the exact point if the RI ratio ranges between 0.97 and 1.03 by immersing the body in an RI matching liquid. The results can help in experimental settings of fluorescence CT for acquiring three-dimensional positional information. (C) 2022 Optica Publishing Group

Automated summary

This study evaluated the influence of the difference in refractive index between the sample body and the surroundings on fluorescence CT results. It was found that refraction can cause the brightest fluorescent point to deviate from the correct point. The speculated position can be determined by immersing the body in an RI matching liquid.