S. Carraresi et al., Accuracy of a perturbation model to predict the effect of scattering and absorbing inhomogeneities on photon migration, APPL OPTICS, 40(25), 2001, pp. 4622-4632
The accuracy of the perturbation model to predict the effect of scattering
and absorbing inhomogeneities on photon migration has been investigated by
comparisons with experimental and numerical results. Comparisons for scatte
ring inhomogeneities showed that the model gives satisfactory results both
for the intensity and for the temporal profile of the perturbation over a l
arge range of values for the scattering properties of the defect. As for ab
sorbing inhomogeneities, the model provides an excellent description for th
e temporal profile, but the results for the intensity are accurate only whe
n the perturbation is small. For absorbing inhomogeneities an empirical mod
el that has a significantly more extended application range has been propos
ed. The model is based on an expression for the time-resolved mean path len
gth that detected photons have followed inside the inhomogeneity. The appli
cation range of the proposed model covers the values expected for the optic
al properties and for the volumes of inhomogeneities of practical interest
for optical mammography. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.