An initial assessment of the optical properties of human laryngeal tissue

The optical properties of human laryngeal tissue have been examined over the whole wavelength range from 400 to 2,200 nm to facilitate the development of new laser applications. Tissue samples were taken from healthy vocal fold and from vocal fold of patients with papillomatosis and with chronic, nonspecific laryngitis. The transmission and scattering properties of the tissue samples were recorded with a computer-guided integrating-sphere system. From the measured data the optical properties were calculated by means of the inverse Monte Carlo simulation. In the 500- to 600-nm range papilloma tissues had a considerably higher absorption than healthy vocal fold. When applying the optical tissue properties as a possible influencing factor of the effectiveness of laser systems, laser applications at this wavelength range may be useful in the ablation of papilloma tissue.