Chapter 2
Overview of Theoretical Approaches
to the Analysis of Light Scattering
Abstract We propose methods of light scattering for the quantitative study of the
optical characteristics of the tissue, and the results of theoretical and experimental
studies of photon transport in biological tissues.
2.1 Introduction
One important aspect of the development of modern medicine is the early detection
of diseases. To solve this problem it is necessary to select the most informative
indicators of the functioning of the organism, such measurements are the results of
the analysis of peripheral blood. As we know the blood is made up of the following
elements: white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets, the optical properties of
biological objects help to solve a number of problems for the diagnosis of various
pathological processes in the body. In medical diagnostic methods are divided into
invasive and non-invasive. Invasive methods assume such an action on the
prototype system, such as is going through some changes (X-rays) in the organs or
tissues. Non-invasive methods are methods in which information about an object is
obtained without disturbance of the internal structure of the body. Considering that the
classification is from a physical viewpoint we can say that completely non-invasive
methods do not exist in the very nature of the measurement procedure. It is correct to
describe all methods of diagnosis to some degree as perturbation, introduced into the
prototype system, and those where a disturbance is minimal considered non-invasive
methods. As such, a new area of diagnostics was now actively developed, which
uses optical techniques. With the optical point of view of biological tissue (including
bioliquid: blood, lymph, etc.) it can be divided into two broad classes:
1. strongly scattering (skin, vascular wall, blood);
2. weakly scattering (tissue of the eye: cornea, crystalline lens) [1, 2].
This chapter describes the use of light scattering techniques for a highly scattering
biological structure.
To develop new methods of laser biomedical diagnostics one must study in detailed
the peculiarities of the process of light propagation in biological tissues, as theoretical
studies improve understanding of the optical measurements, reliability and usefulness
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
K. Kulikov and T. Koshlan, Laser Interaction with Heterogeneous
Biological Tissue, Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94114-1_2
9
Overview of Theoretical Approaches
to the Analysis of Light Scattering
Abstract We propose methods of light scattering for the quantitative study of the
optical characteristics of the tissue, and the results of theoretical and experimental
studies of photon transport in biological tissues.
2.1 Introduction
One important aspect of the development of modern medicine is the early detection
of diseases. To solve this problem it is necessary to select the most informative
indicators of the functioning of the organism, such measurements are the results of
the analysis of peripheral blood. As we know the blood is made up of the following
elements: white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets, the optical properties of
biological objects help to solve a number of problems for the diagnosis of various
pathological processes in the body. In medical diagnostic methods are divided into
invasive and non-invasive. Invasive methods assume such an action on the
prototype system, such as is going through some changes (X-rays) in the organs or
tissues. Non-invasive methods are methods in which information about an object is
obtained without disturbance of the internal structure of the body. Considering that the
classification is from a physical viewpoint we can say that completely non-invasive
methods do not exist in the very nature of the measurement procedure. It is correct to
describe all methods of diagnosis to some degree as perturbation, introduced into the
prototype system, and those where a disturbance is minimal considered non-invasive
methods. As such, a new area of diagnostics was now actively developed, which
uses optical techniques. With the optical point of view of biological tissue (including
bioliquid: blood, lymph, etc.) it can be divided into two broad classes:
1. strongly scattering (skin, vascular wall, blood);
2. weakly scattering (tissue of the eye: cornea, crystalline lens) [1, 2].
This chapter describes the use of light scattering techniques for a highly scattering
biological structure.
To develop new methods of laser biomedical diagnostics one must study in detailed
the peculiarities of the process of light propagation in biological tissues, as theoretical
studies improve understanding of the optical measurements, reliability and usefulness
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
K. Kulikov and T. Koshlan, Laser Interaction with Heterogeneous
Biological Tissue, Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94114-1_2
9