Determination of reduced scattering coefficient of biological tissue from a needle-like probe.

Detection of interactions between light and tissue can be used to characterize the optical properties of the tissue. The purpose of this paper is to develop an algorithm that determines the reduced scattering coefficient (mus') of tissues from a single optical reflectance spectrum measured with a small source-detector separation. A qualitative relationship between mus' and optical reflectance was developed using both Monte Carlo simulations and empirical tissue calibrations for each of two fiber optic probes with 400-mum and 100-mum fibers. Optical reflectance measurements, using a standard frequency-domain oximeter, were performed to validate the calculated mus' values. The algorithm was useful for determining mus' values of in vivo human fingers and rat brain tissues.

Limited possibility for quantifying mean particle size by logarithmic light-scattering spectroscopy.

Recent studies have shown that the slope of logarithmic scattering spectroscopy of a turbid medium is related to the sizes of the scattering particles within the turbid medium. Mie theory can be used to generate a logarithmic plot of the reduced-scattering coefficient versus wavelength. According to Nilsson et al. [Appl. Opt. 37, 1256 (1998)], the slope value of a linear fit of the logarithmic scattering spectroscopy between 600 and 1050 nm can be used for direct determination of particle size. We performed similar calculations using the Rayleigh-Gans approximation and obtained an analogous overall shape with additional sinusoidal features. Our calculations indicate a possible relationship between the slope and the particle size when the size is used to calculate the slope, namely, in the forward calculation. However, because of the sinusoidal pattern, the inverse calculation to obtain the particle size from the slope may be applied only for particles with a radius of <0.13 microm in combination with 650-1050-nm light. Caution should be exercised when inverse calculation is performed to determine the scattering particle sizes in the range of radii >0.13 microm, with the slope of logarithmic scattering spectroscopy within 650-1050 nm.