Distinguish activations on sensorimotor cortex using high-resolution diffuse optical tomography

摘要

Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is an appropriate tool for non-invasive exploration of human brain activation. The activation of sensorimotor cortex has been studied by several researchers since the first images of human brain were generated in 1995. However, high-quality images of sensorimotor cortex can not be obtained until the emerging of high-resolution DOT which uses a multi-centered geometry for arranging optical fibers. In this study, we did two experiments using our CW5 instrument (TechEn, USA). In the first experiment, the subject was asked to move his four fingers of right hand for 30 seconds, followed by 30 seconds of rest. Data collection lasted 420 seconds. In the second experiment, the subject was asked to tap his thumb against the other four fingers. Two conclusions can be reached from the experiments. Firstly, larger activated regions can be found on motor cortex in experiment 2 than in experiment 1. This indicates that high-resolution DOT can detect larger activated brain region when moving five fingers comparing to moving four fingers. Secondly, few activated regions can be found on sensory cortex in experiment 1, but it can be clearly found on sensory cortex in experiment 2. Up to our knowledge, it is the first time DOT has detected activated region on sensory cortex during motorial task.