Age-related changes in diffuse optical tomography sensitivity profiles from childhood to adulthood

SIGNIFICANCE: Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) uses near-infrared light spectroscopy to measure changes in cerebral hemoglobin concentration. Anatomical interpretations of the brain location that generates the hemodynamic signal require accurate descriptions of the DOT sensitivity to the underlying cortex. DOT sensitivity profiles are different in infants compared with adults. However, the descriptions of DOT sensitivity profiles from early childhood to adulthood are lacking despite the continuous head and brain development. AIM: We aim to investigate age-related differences in DOT sensitivity profiles in individuals aged from 2 to 34 years with narrow age ranges of 0.5 or 1 year. APPROACH: We implemented existing photon migration simulation methods and computed source–detector channel DOT sensitivity using age-appropriate, realistic head models. RESULTS: DOT sensitivity profiles change systematically as a function of source–detector separation distance for all age groups. Children displayed distinctive DOT sensitivity profiles compared to older individuals, and the differences were enhanced at larger separation distances. CONCLUSIONS: The findings have important implications for the design of source–detector placement and image reconstruction. Age-appropriate realistic head models should be used to provide anatomical guidance for standalone DOT data. Using age-inappropriate head models will have more negative impacts on estimation accuracy in younger children.