Low contrast imaging is of vital clinical importance and thus an important aspect of CT image quality. For example, soft plaque imaging, ground glass lung opacities, and soft tissue differentiation all depend upon excellent low contrast resolution. A primary factor in determining low contrast resolution is noise.

Noninvasive blood flow characterization is essential to assess the health status of biological tissue and to evaluate the efficacy of therapies which target the microvasculature. Optimization of laser therapy for disfiguring vascular birthmarks is one specific clinical application. Current treatment protocols involve the use of high-power pulsed laser irradiation with parameters selected to induce selective photocoagulation of the targeted blood vessels. Protocol design is based largely on results from numerical modeling studies, which have predictive capability of the laser light distribution within the skin and subsequent photothermal response leading towards selective photocoagulation. However, the biological response of the microvasculature to therapeutic laser intervention remains a poorly-researched field. We hypothesize that the acute photothermal response of the microvasculature is a poor predictor of the chronic response, due to vascular remodeling processes which are not included in current modeling studies. To test this hypothesis, we employ an optical imaging method to assess blood flow dynamics in response to therapeutic intervention.

Brain imaging requires high levels of precision and accuracy, especially for diagnostic or surgical applications. Histological sections represent the “gold standard” in high-resolution imaging. For high-fidelity volume renderings of stacks of histological sections image registration using linear and non-linear transformations is required. Non-invasive scanning techniques, such as MRI, CT, PET, etc., produce inherently lower resolution, but better aligned imagery. By combining invasive and non-invasive scanning techniques, the advantages of various modalities can be combined into a hybrid system which enables co-location of instantiated patient scans and high-resolution reference scans.