RESUMEN
Significance: Postoperative surgical wound infection is a serious problem around the globe, including in countries with advanced healthcare systems, and a method for early detection of infection is urgently required. Aim: We explore spatial frequency domain imaging (SFDI) for distinguishing changes in surgical wound healing based on the tissue scattering properties and surgical wound width measurements. Approach: A comprehensive numerical method is developed by applying a three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation to a vertical heterogeneous wound model. The Monte Carlo simulation results are validated using resin phantom imaging experiments. Results: We report on the SFDI lateral resolution with varying reduced scattering value and wound width and discuss the partial volume effect at the sharp vertical boundaries present in a surgical incision. The detection sensitivity of this method is dependent on spatial frequency, wound reduced scattering coefficient, and wound width. Conclusions: We provide guidelines for future SFDI instrument design and explanation for the expected error in SFDI measurements.