Medical applications of treatment, diagnosis and surgery can greatly benefit from the use of optical radiation. Every biomedical optical technique depends strongly on light propagation. The spatial configuration and the characteristics of optical radiation at each spatial point greatly influence the outcome of the previously mentioned applications. Light properties as it traverses biological tissues are particularly relevant in optical diagnosis. Diagnosis by optical radiation is usually based on pure intensity measurements. Consequently, there is a general lack of enough contrast, as it is based on pure absorption and scattering differences. Enhanced contrast can be achieved by taking into account other light parameters, such as coherence or polarization. These parameters present a much more complex evolution, and are strongly dependent on the incident optical beam properties, as long as on the biological medium characteristics. The statistical nature of the process makes it convenient to use random beams and even random media in the models. These additional parameters could represent the possibility to distinguish malignant from healthy biological tissues, when intensity contrast is not enough. What is more, beam characteristics could be chosen in order to produce desired spatial distributions of radiation inside biological tissues, or to provide an adequate interpretation of diagnostic parameters. In this work, optical random beams, mainly Gaussian-based, are employed to model light propagation in turbid biological tissues by Green’s functions. Coherence and spectral characteristics of the beam are considered. The model is applied to skin pathologies, such as basocellular or squamous cell carcinoma.
Biomedical optical techniques of treatment, characterization and surgery are strongly dependent on light propagation in tissues. Information that goes beyond pure intensity, such as polarization or other coherence parameters, can provide increased contrast. This contrast is critical in clinical applications, as malignant tissue has to be distinguished from healthy one, or a particular component or structure has to be highlighted and detected. The appropriate consideration of these further light-tissue interaction properties requires taking into account phase and coherence. The complexity of the problem increases as biological tissues present usually high scattering. This fact greatly influences optical propagation, and is usually a fundamental limitation in optical diagnostic techniques. Light propagation in static scattering media can be analyzed by Green’s functions. Electromagnetic propagation could be then considered, including coherence phenomena. However, analytical solutions are complex and require usually numerical methods to obtain a result. Monte Carlo approaches are particularly well-suited in biological tissues. In this work light propagation in highly scattering biological tissues is analyzed first by Green’s functions. The limited geometry of this analytical approach serves as a first approach for more complex structures. More realistic biological tissue models are proposed and solved via a threedimensional time-resolved Monte Carlo approach. The model is applied to dermatological tumoral tissues. The results of scattering by Green’s functions and the Monte Carlo approach are compared, and the potential contrast of coherence parameters is analyzed in diagnostic applications.
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