Double-layer estimation of intra- and extracerebral hemoglobin concentration with a time-resolved system

We present in vivo measurements of baseline physiology from five subjects with a four-wavelength (690, 750, 800, and 850 nm) time-resolved optical system. The measurements were taken at four distances: 10, 15, 25, and 30 mm. All distances were fit simultaneously with a two-layered analytical model for the absorption and reduced scattering coefficient of both layers. The thickness of the first layer, comprising the skin, scalp, and cerebrospinal fluid, was obtained from anatomical magnetic resonance images. The fitting procedure was first tested with simulations before being applied to in vivo measurements and verified that this procedure permits accurate characterization of the hemoglobin concentrations in the extra- and intracerebral tissues. Baseline oxyhemoglobin, deoxyhemoglobin, and total hemoglobin concentrations and oxygen saturation were recovered from in vivo measurements and compared to the literature. We observed a noticeable intersubject variability of the hemoglobin concentrations, but constant values for the cerebral hemoglobin oxygen saturation.