Comparison of Finite Element and Monte Carlo Simulations for Inhomogeneous Advanced Breast Cancer Imaging

Y. Xu, and Q. Zhu
University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
Published in 2010

Three-dimensional FEM method provided by COMSOL is used to model an inhomogeneous advanced breast tumor of different optical properties for outer layer and inner core in a semi-infinite medium. The running time of FEM by COMSOL for one source and 14 detectors is 17.658s and which of Monte Carlo (MC) is 91017s, 5154 times longer. The absorption distribution is reconstructed by born approximation. The maximum absorption coefficient is evaluated for both FEM and MC. For FEM, the reconstructed maximum absorption coefficient is 0.20, 80% accuracy; which for MC is 0.14, 56% accuracy. The phantom experiment in similar condition using ultrasound-guided Near infrared(NIR) imaging system is also performed to verify the simulations.

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