In vitro assessment of optical properties of blood by applying the extended Huygens-Fresnel principle to time-domain optical coherence tomography signal at 1300 nm.
A direct method for the measurement of the optical attenuation coefficient and the scattering anisotropy parameter based on applying the extended Huygens-Fresnel principle to optical coherence tomography images of blood is demonstrated. The images are acquired with a low-power probing beam at the wavelength of 1300 nm. Values of 12.15 mm(-1) and 0.95 are found for the total attenuation coefficient and the scattering anisotropy factor, respectively. Also, as a preliminary step, the optical refraction index is determined with a precision of two decimal numbers directly from optical coherence images. The total attenuation coefficient and the scattering anisotropy factor are determined with precisions within experimental error margins of 5% and 2%, respectively. Readable OCT signal is obtained for a maximum propagation of light into blood of 0.25 mm. At the maximum probed depth, the measured signal is almost 10(3) smaller than its initial intensity when entering the sample.
Popescu
Dan P
DP
National Research Council of Canada, Institute for Biodiagnostics, 435 Ellice Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3B 1Y6. dan.popescu@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Sowa
Michael G
MG