The inverse Rytov series for diffuse optical tomography

Abstract

The Rytov approximation is known in near-infrared spectroscopy including diffuse optical tomography.In diffuse optical tomography, the Rytov approximation often gives better reconstructed images than the Born approximation. Although related inverse problems are nonlinear, the Rytov approximation is almost always accompanied by the linearization of nonlinear inverse problems. In this paper, we will develop nonlinear reconstruction with the inverse Rytov series. By this, linearization is not necessary and higher order terms in the Rytov series can be used for reconstruction. The convergence and stability are discussed. We find that the inverse Rytov series has a recursive structure similar to the inverse Born series.