title: Light diffusion in N-layered turbid media: steady-state domain.
abstract: We deal with light diffusion in N-layered turbid media. The steady-state diffusion equation is solved for N-layered turbid media having a finite or an infinitely thick N'th layer. Different refractive indices are considered in the layers. The Fourier transform formalism is applied to derive analytical solutions of the fluence rate in Fourier space. The inverse Fourier transform is calculated using four different methods to test their performance and accuracy. Further, to avoid numerical errors, approximate formulas in Fourier space are derived. Fast solutions for calculation of the spatially resolved reflectance and transmittance from the N-layered turbid media ( approximately 10 ms) with small relative differences (<10(-7)) are found. Additionally, the solutions of the diffusion equation are compared to Monte Carlo simulations for turbid media having up to 20 layers.
authors.affiliation: Institut fur Lasertechnologien in der Medizin und Messtechnik, Helmholtzstrasse 12, Ulm, D-89081 Germany. andre.liemert@ilm.uni-ulm.de
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liemert
authors.forename: Alwin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kienle
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D008027:Light; D008954:Models, Biological; D008956:Models, Chemical; D009391:Nephelometry and Turbidimetry / Q000379:methods*; D012031:Refractometry / Q000379:methods*; D012542:Scattering, Radiation