EFFECT OF MOLECULAR CONCENTRATIONS IN TISSUE-SIMULATING PHANTOMS ON IMAGES OBTAINED USING DIFFUSE-REFLECTANCE POLARIMETRY

We have investigated the possibility of using diffuse reflectance pola rimetry to detect changes caused by different molecular compounds and concentrations in tissue-simulating phantoms. The effects of glucose, beta-alanine and l-lysine at different concentrations in turbid media have been investigated separately. This approach is based on the effec t of optical properties on the polarization state of light. The result s show that this method has potential for determining changes in molec ular concentrations in highly scattering biological media from polariz ation images. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America