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Dependence of Reflectance on Optical Properties at Short Distance (Part B: Experimental Validation)
Djazia Yacheur1, Letizia Lanini2, Tong Li2
1Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory (BORL), Department of Neonatology, University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. dyacheur@student.ethz.ch.
Background:
Determining optical properties of biological tissues enables critical clinical insights, e.g., quantifying hemoglobin oxygenation in preterm infants or detecting malignant tissues in cancer diagnostics. In applications such as neonatal monitoring or endoscopic imaging, measurements at short distances (less than 1 cm) are essential due to space constraints.
Aim:
This study aims to investigate the relationship between the tissue optical properties and the reflectance at short distances using a combination of experimental data and a modified Monte Carlo (MC) simulation.
Materials And Methods:
Twelve phantoms with different optical properties were created using silicone and validated using the commercial frequency domain near infrared spectroscopy system ISS Imagent. Reflectance measurements were conducted at precise source-detector separations ranging from 1.5 mm to 5 mm. Modified MC simulations incorporating the modified Henyey-Greenstein (MHG) and Gegenbauer (GB) phase functions were employed and simulated and measured data were compared.
Results:
The reflectance data exhibited a clear dependence on absorption and scattering coefficients. The MHG and GB models provided better fits to experimental data compared to the traditional Henyey-Greenstein (HG) model. The median value of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) among all the investigated separation distances and optical properties of 0.982 for MHG and 0.979 for GB confirms higher agreement with experimental data by using these phase functions compared to HG (ICC = 0.978).
Conclusion:
The modified MC simulation enabled us to better simulate the experimental data. The MHG and GB models offer improved accuracy over traditional HG models, thus advancing optical imaging and diagnostic applications especially for measuring the peripheral oxygenation for preterm babies.
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