Abstract

A numerical method is presented to solve exactly the time-dependent diffusion equation that describes light transport in turbid media. The simulation takes into account spatial variations of the scattering and absorption factors of the medium and the objects as well as random fluctuations of these quantities. The technique is employed to explore the possibility of locating millimeter-sized objects immersed in turbid media from time-gated measurements of the transmitted or reflected (near-infrared) light. The simulation results for tissuelike phantoms are compared with experimental transillumination data, and excellent agreement is found. Simulations of time-gated reflection experiments indicate that it may be possible to detect objects of 1-mm radius.

© 1997 Optical Society of America

Time-gated transillumination of biological tissues and tissuelike phantoms

Gerhard Mitic, Jochen Kölzer, Johann Otto, Erich Plies, Gerald Sölkner, and Wolfgang Zinth
Appl. Opt. 33(28) 6699-6710 (1994)

Time-gated viewing studies on tissuelike phantoms

R. Berg, S. Andersson-Engels, O. Jarlman, and S. Svanberg
Appl. Opt. 35(19) 3432-3440 (1996)

Monte Carlo simulations and laser Doppler flow measurements with high penetration depth in biological tissuelike head phantoms

Gerald Soelkner, Gerhard Mitic, and Robert Lohwasser
Appl. Opt. 36(22) 5647-5654 (1997)

Light diffusion and diffusing-wave spectroscopy in nematic liquid crystals

H. Stark, M. H. Kao, K. A. Jester, T. C. Lubensky, A. G. Yodh, and P. J. Collings
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 14(1) 156-178 (1997)

Attenuation of energy in time-gated transillumination imaging: numerical results

Giovanni Zaccanti and Paolo Donelli
Appl. Opt. 33(30) 7023-7030 (1994)