Multi-projection bioluminescence tomography guided system for small animal radiation research platform (SARRP)

Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is limited in guiding irradiation for soft tissue targets. As a complementary imaging modality, bioluminescence tomography (BLT) provides strong soft tissue contrast. We developed a dual-use BLT system which consists of an optical assembly, a mobile cart and an independent mouse bed. The system is motorized which can easily dock onto an independent mouse bed operating as a standalone system for longitudinal bioluminescence imaging (BLI)/BLT studies and also dock onto the SARRP for on-line radiation guidance. Our initial tests for the system demonstrate that (i) the imaging depth is 28 mm, (ii) the optical background is sufficiently low and uniform, (iii) the non-uniform response of the optical imaging can be corrected by the flat field correction, and (iv) the imaging acquisition speed was improved by an average of 3.7 times faster than our previous systems. We also presented a geometry calibration procedure to map the planar BLIs acquired at multi-projections onto the surface of the CBCT image. The CBCT is required to generate the mesh for BLT reconstruction and used for treatment planning and radiation delivery. Feasibility study of the geometry calibration was performed on a manual-docking prototype. The mean and maximum mapping accuracy is 0.3 and 0.6 mm. The performance of the proposed motorized dual-use system is expected to be superior to that of the manual-docking prototype because of the mechanism stability. We anticipate the dual-use system as a highly efficient and cost-effective platform to facilitate optical imaging for preclinical radiation research.