Optical Properties of Tissues with Strong (Multiple) Scattering

doi:10.1117/3.1003040.ch1

Book: Tissue Optics: Light Scattering Methods and Instruments for Medical Diagnostics, Third Edition

Author(s): Valery V. Tuchin

Published: 2015

https://doi.org/10.1117/3.1003040.ch1

Author Affiliations +

Abstract

This first chapter introduces the problem of light (laser beams) transport within strongly (multiply) scattering tissues, such as skin, breast, brain, and vessel wall. Basic principles and theoretical descriptions using radiation transfer theory or Monte Carlo (MC) simulation are considered. The propagation of short pulses and photon-density diffusion waves in scattering and absorbing media is analyzed, and the prospects of using these methods for tissue spectroscopy and tomography are discussed.