title: Effective thermal penetration depth in photo-irradiated ex vivo human tissues.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In this work, a model of bioheat distribution is discussed for ex vivo human tissue samples, and the thermal penetration depth measurements performed on several tissues are presented.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Optical radiation is widely applied in the treatment and diagnosis of different pathologies. A power density of incident light at 100 mW/cm(2) is sufficiently high enough to induce a temperature increase of >5°C in irradiated human tissue. In this case, knowledge of the thermal properties of the tissue is needed to achieve a better understanding of the therapeutic effects.
  
  
  METHODS
  The application of the diffusion approximation of the radiative transfer equation for the distribution of optical radiation, the experimental setup, and the results thereof are presented and discussed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The effective thermal penetration depth in the studied tissues has been determined to be in the range of 4.3-7.0 mm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The effective thermal penetration depth has been defined, and this could be useful for developing models to describe the thermal effects with a separate analysis of the tissue itself and the blood that irrigates it.
authors: Laboratorio de Láseres, ESIME-IPN, UPALM, Zacatenco, México. surenstolik@gmail.com
authors: Suren
authors: S
authors: Stolik
authors: José Alberto
authors: JA
authors: Delgado
authors: Lorenzo
authors: L
authors: Anasagasti
authors: Arllene Mariana
authors: AM
authors: Pérez