DETERMINATION OF THE OPTICAL-PROPERTIES OF THE HUMAN UTERUS USING FREQUENCY-DOMAIN PHOTON MIGRATION AND STEADY-STATE TECHNIQUES

The optical properties (absorption and transport scattering coefficien ts) of freshly excised, bulk human uterine tissues were measured at 63 0 nm using frequency-domain and steady-state photon migration techniqu es. Measurements were made on both normal (pre- and post-menopausal) a nd non-neoplastic fibrotic tissues. The absorption coefficient of norm al postmenopausal tissue (approximately 0.06 mm-1) was found to be sig nificantly greater than that of normal pre-menopausal tissue (0.02-0.0 3 mm-1) and pre-menopausal fibrotic tissue (0.008 mm-1). The transport scattering coefficient was similar in all three tissue types consider ed (0.6-0.9 mm-1). From the preliminary results presented here, we con clude that optical properties can be reliably calculated either from t he frequency-dependent behaviour of diffusely propagating photon densi ty waves or by combining the frequency-independent photon density wave phase velocity with steady-state light penetration depth measurements . Instrument bandwidth and tissue absorption relaxation time ultimatel y determine the useful frequency range necessary for frequency-domain photon migration (FDPM) measurements. Based on the optical properties measured in this study, we estimate that non-invasive FDPM measurement s of normal uterine tissue require modulation frequencies in excess of 350 MHz.