Design and fabrication of a multi-layered solid phantom: Validation platform on methods for reducing scalp-hemodynamic effect from fNIRS signal

摘要

Scalp hemodynamics contaminates the signals from functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Numerous methods have been proposed to reduce this contamination, but no golden standard has yet been established. Here we constructed a multi-layered solid phantom to experimentally validate such methods. This phantom comprises four layers corresponding to epidermides, dermis/skull (upper dynamic layer), cerebrospinal fluid and brain (lower dynamic layer) and the thicknesses of these layers were 0.3, 10, 1, and 50 mm, respectively. The epidermides and cerebrospinal fluid layers were made of polystyrene and an acrylic board, respectively. Both of these dynamic layers were made of epoxy resin. An infrared dye and titanium dioxide were mixed to match their absorption and reduced scattering coefficients (μa and us', respectively) with those of biological tissues. The bases of both upper and lower dynamic layers have a slot for laterally sliding a bar that holds an absorber piece. This bar was laterally moved using a programmable stepping motor. The optical properties of dynamic layers were estimated based on the transmittance and reflectance using the Monte Carlo look-up table method. The estimated coefficients for lower and upper dynamic layers approximately coincided with those for biological tissues. We confirmed that the preliminary fNIRS measurement using the fabricated phantom showed that the signals from the brain layer were recovered if those from the dermis layer were completely removed from their mixture, indicating that the phantom is useful for evaluating methods for reducing the contamination of the signals from the scalp.