Forward-calculated analytical interferograms in pass-through photon-based biomedical transillumination

Abstract

Recently, we have introduced a transillumination technique for biomedical diagnosis. The technique, pass-through photon-based transillumination, relies on interferometric measurements to recover the information of interest. In this work, we present the forward-calculated analytical interferograms that describe the behavior of the system. Stochastic modeling of radiation interacting with tissue enables determination of amplitude and phase parameters, indispensable for computation of the interferograms. Sample variability is assessed by studying tissue phantoms similar to those used in the experimental verification of the technique and that are representative of (abnormal) dental tissues. For tissue characterization, perfect recovery of the integrated attenuation ensues by employing spatially compact radiation sources. For tissue imaging, spatially extended sources with broad bandwidth are superior due to the implicit longitudinal coherence filter. For both applications, sample variability issues may be neutralized by permitting spatial divergence of scattered photons.