Total attenuation coefficient of intralipid dilutions for discrete laser wavelengths between 405 and 1315 nm

Abstract

The experimental investigations on different aspects of optical tomography require the knowledge of the optical parameters of tissues and tissue-like phantoms in order to unambiguously interpret the experimental data and specify characteristic inhomogeneities in tissue diagnostics. The main optical parameters of interest are the absorption coefficient, the scattering, backscattering, and reduced-scattering coefficients, the total attenuation (extinction) coefficient and the anisotropy factor. In this work, we extend our investigations of the optical properties of tissuemimicking phantoms, such as Intralipid-20% fat emulsion, using an approach we have developed recently based on the peculiarities of laser radiation beams propagating through semi-infinite turbid media. The dependence of the total attenuation coefficient on the Intralipid concentration, for laser radiation wavelengths λ=405, 672, 850, and 1314 nm, is studied, by using a set of phantoms consisting of different dilutions of Intralipid in distilled water. The experimental results for the extinction are in agreement with our previous results and with empiric formulae found by other authors concerning the wavelength dependence of the scattering coefficient of Intralipid -10% and Intralipid - 20%. They are also in agreement with known data of the water absorptance. As a whole, the results obtained in this work confirm the consideration of the experimental phantoms as semi-infinite media. They also confirm and extend theoretical and experimental results obtained previously, and reveal advantages of using longer wavelengths for deeper diagnostics of tissues and mimic turbid media.