Importance of the ?D term in frequency-resolved optical diffusion imaging

The effects of the approximation $\nabla D=0$ that is often used in frequency-resolved optical diffusion imaging are examined. It is shown that this approximation can affect the performance of integral-equation-based approaches to optical diffusion imaging, such as the Born iterative method and the distorted Born iterative method. The approximation introduces errors into the calculation of data used in simulations, which can lead to misleading evaluations of reconstruction algorithms. Numerical calculations show the magnitude of these effects and the appearance of artifacts in reconstructed images when conventional inversion algorithms are applied to more accurately calculated data.