Imaging of Rheumatoid Arthritis in Finger Joints by Sagittal Optical Tomography

In early stages of rheumatoid arthritis some changes in joints arise due to an inflammatory process. In the case of transillumination with near infrared light these changes affect the radiation transport in joints. We performed first numerical simulations for a basic approach of a sagittal optical tomographic imaging method that led to promising results. For this purpose, the optical properties of the different tissue types in joints were measured and NMR images were used for geometrical model development and visualisation of rheumatoid arthritis.