Diffusion model for ultrasound-modulated light

Researchers use ultrasound (US) to modulate diffusive light in a highly scattering medium like tissue. This paper analyzes the US-optical interaction in the scattering medium and derives an expression for the US-modulated optical radiance. The diffusion approximation to the radiative transport equation is employed to develop a Green's function for US-modulated light. The predicted modulated fluence and flux are verified using finite-difference time-domain simulations. The Green's function is then utilized to illustrate the modulated reflectance as the US-optical interaction increases in depth. The intent of this paper is to focus on high US frequencies necessary for high-resolution imaging because they are of interest for applications such as phase conjugation.