title: Light scattering from normal and dysplastic cervical cells at different epithelial depths: finite-difference time-domain modeling with a perfectly matched layer boundary condition.
abstract: The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method provides a flexible approach to studying the scattering that arises from arbitrarily inhomogeneous structures. We implemented a three-dimensional FDTD program code to model light scattering from biological cells. The perfectly matched layer (PML) boundary condition has been used to terminate the FDTD computational grid. We investigated differences in angle-dependent scattering properties of normal and dysplastic cervical cells. Specifically, the scattering patterns and phase functions have been computed for normal and dysplastic cervical cells at three different epithelial depths, namely, basal/parabasal, intermediate, and superficial. Construction of cervical cells within the FDTD computational grid is based on morphological and chromatin texture features obtained from quantitative histopathology. The results show that angle-dependent scattering characteristics are different not only for normal and dysplastic cells but also for cells at different epithelial depths. The calculated scattering cross-sections are significantly greater for dysplastic cells. The scattering cross-sections of cells at different depths indicate that scattering decreases in going from the superficial layer to the intermediate layer, but then increases in the basal/parabasal layer. This trend for epithelial cell scattering has also been observed in confocal images of ex vivo cervical tissue.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at Austin, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Austin, Texas 78712, USA.
authors.forename: Dizem
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Arifler
authors.forename: Martial
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guillaud
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carraro
authors.forename: Anais
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malpica
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Follen
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Richards-Kortum
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D016477:Artifacts; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000473:pathology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005260:Female; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008954:Models, Biological; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000473:pathology*