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The heating degree of the inner layers of tumor tissue is an important parameter required to optimize plasmonic photothermal therapy (PPT). This study reports the optical properties of tissue layers of transplanted cholangiocarcinoma and covering tissues in rats without treatment (control group) and after PPT using gold nanorods (experimental group). PPT was carried out for 15 min, and the temperature on the skin surface reached 54.8 ± 1.6 °C. The following samples were cut out ex vivo and studied: skin, subcutaneous connective tissue, tumor capsule, top, center, and bottom part of the tumor. The samples' absorption and reduced scattering coefficients were calculated using the inverse adding–doubling method at 350–2250 nm wavelength. Diffuse reflectance spectra of skin surface above tumors were measured in vivo in the control and experimental groups before and immediately after PPT in the wavelength range of 350–2150 nm. Our results indicate significant differences between the optical properties of the tissues before and after PPT. The differences are attributed to edema and hemorrhage in the surface layers, tissue dehydration of the deep tumor layers, and morphological changes during the heating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heating degree of the inner layers of tumor tissue is an important parameter required to optimize plasmonic photothermal therapy (PPT). This study reports the optical properties of tissue layers of transplanted cholangiocarcinoma and covering tissues in rats without treatment (control group) and after PPT using gold nanorods (experimental group). PPT was carried out for 15 min, and the temperature on the skin surface reached 54.8 ± 1.6 °C. The following samples were cut out ex vivo and studied: skin, subcutaneous connective tissue, tumor capsule, top, center, and bottom part of the tumor. The samples’ absorption and reduced scattering coefficients were calculated using the inverse adding–doubling method at 350–2250 nm wavelength. Diffuse reflectance spectra of skin surface above tumors were measured in vivo in the control and experimental groups before and immediately after PPT in the wavelength range of 350–2150 nm. Our results indicate significant differences between the optical properties of the tissues before and after PPT. The differences are attributed to edema and hemorrhage in the surface layers, tissue dehydration of the deep tumor layers, and morphological changes during the heating.

The refractive index is an essential biophysical parameter used in many diagnostic and therapeutic biomedical applications. In the present study, the refractive index of control and anemic blood was measured using the total internal reflection fiber optics technique. For control, the refractive index measured by the indicated method was significantly higher than anemic blood over the wavelengths in the visible spectral region used in this study. Strong linear correlations between refractive index and hemoglobin concentration were obtained for control and anemic blood. These findings could enhance the use of the refractive index in many applications of blood analysis and hematology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fundamental to the adjunctive use of laser photonic energy for delivering therapy and tissue management, is the ability of the incident energy to be absorbed by target tissues. The aim of this review is to examine the differential performance of the separate components of oral hard and soft tissues when exposed to laser photonic irradiance of variable wavelengths and power values. Through an examination of peer-reviewed published data and materials, the interaction of laser photonic energy and target tissues are explored in detail. Varying laser wavelength emissions relative to anatomical structures explores the ability to optimise laser–tissue interactions, and also identifies possible risk scenarios as they apply to adjacent non-target structures. The concepts and practical aspects of laser photonic energy interactions with target oral tissues are clearly demonstrated. Emphasis was placed on optimising the minimum level of laser power delivery in order to achieve a desired tissue effect, whilst minimising the risk or outcome of collateral tissue damage.

Knowledge of tissue optical properties, in particular the absorption μa and the reduced scattering coefficient μs , is required for diagnostic and therapeutic applications in which the light distribution during treatment has to be known. As it is generally very difficult to obtain this information with sufficient accuracy in vivo, optical properties are often approximately determined on ex vivo tissue samples. In this case, the obtained optical properties may strongly depend on the sample preparation. The extent of the expectable preparationdependent differences was systematically investigated in comparative measurements on dissected and homogenized porcine tissue samples (liver, lung, brain, and muscle). These measurements were performed at wavelengths 520, 635, 660, and 785 nm, using a dual-step reflectance device and at a spectral range of 515 to 800 nm with an integrating sphere setup. In a third experiment, the density of tissue samples (dissected and homogenized) was investigated, as the characteristic of the packaging of internal tissue structures strongly influences the absorption and scattering. The standard errors of the obtained absorption and reduced scattering coefficients were found to be reduced in case of homogenized tissue. Homogenizing the tissues also allows a much easier and faster sample preparation, as macroscopic internal tissue structures are destroyed in the homogenized tissue so that a planar tissue sample with well-defined thickness can easily and accurately be prepared by filling the tissue paste into a cuvette. Consequently, a better reproducibility result was obtained when using homogenized samples. According to the density measurements accomplished for dissected and homogenized tissue samples, all types of tissues, except lung, showed a decrease in the density due to the homogenization process. The presented results are in good agreement for μs regardless of the preparation procedure, whereas μa differs, probably influenced by blood content and dehydration. Because of faster and easier preparation and easier sample positioning, homogenization prior to measurement seems to be suitable for investigating the optical properties ex vivo. Additionally, by means of using the homogenization process, the sample size and thickness do not need to be particularly large, as is the case for most biopsies from the OR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, dynamically developing optical (photonic) technologies play an ever-increasing role in medicine. Their adequate and effective implementation in diagnostics, surgery, and therapy needs reliable data on optical properties of human tissues, including skin. This paper presents an overview of recent results on the measurements and control of tissue optical properties. The issues reported comprise a brief review of optical properties of biological tissues and efficacy of optical clearing (OC) method in application to monitoring of diabetic complications and visualization of blood vessels and microcirculation using a number of optical imaging technologies, including spectroscopic, optical coherence tomography, and polarization- and speckle-based ones. Molecular modeling of immersion OC of skin and specific technique of OC of adipose tissue by its heating and photodynamic treatment are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We address the automatic differentiation of human tissue using multispectral imaging with promising potential for automatic visualization during surgery. Currently, tissue types have to be continuously differentiated based on the surgeon's knowledge only. Further, automatic methods based on optical in vivo properties of human tissue do not yet exist, as these properties have not been sufficiently examined. To overcome this, we developed a hyperspectral camera setup to monitor the different optical behavior of tissue types in vivo. The aim of this work is to collect and analyze these behaviors to open up optical opportunities during surgery. Our setup uses a digital camera and several bandpass filters in front of the light source to illuminate different tissue types with 16 specific wavelength ranges. We analyzed the different intensities of eight healthy tissue types over the visible spectrum (400 to 700 nm). Using our setup and sophisticated postprocessing in order to handle motion during capturing, we are able to find tissue characteristics not visible for the human eye to differentiate tissue types in the 16-dimensional wavelength domain. Our analysis shows that this approach has the potential to support the surgeon's decisions during treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical properties of biological tissues are valuable diagnostic parameters which can provide necessary information regarding tissue state during disease pathogenesis and therapy. However, different sources of interference, such as temperature changes may modify these properties, introducing confounding factors and artifacts to data, consequently skewing their interpretation and misinforming clinical decision-making. In the current study, we apply spatial light modulation, a type of diffuse reflectance hyperspectral imaging technique, to monitor the variation in optical properties of highly scattering turbid media in the presence varying levels of the following sources of interference: scattering concentration, temperature, and pressure. Spatial near-infrared (NIR) light modulation is a wide-field, non-contact emerging optical imaging platform capable of separating the effects of tissue scattering from those of absorption, thereby accurately estimating both parameters. With this technique, periodic NIR illumination patterns at alternately low and high spatial frequencies, at six discrete wavelengths between 690 to 970 nm, were sequentially projected upon the medium while a CCD camera collects the diffusely reflected light. Data analysis based assumptions is then performed off-line to recover the medium’s optical properties. We conducted a series of experiments demonstrating the changes in absorption and reduced scattering coefficients of commercially available fresh milk and chicken breast tissue under different interference conditions. In addition, information on the refractive index was study under increased pressure. This work demonstrates the utility of NIR spatial light modulation to detect varying sources of interference upon the optical properties of biological samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the study of tissue optics, physical models with the boundary of finite size are rarely established. Based on the diffusion equation, under the rectangular boundary conditions, this paper adopts extrapolation boundary conditions to establish a frequency domain model of multilayer medium diffusion equation, according to Fourier transform of frequency domain, turns the frequency domain solution into time domain model. On the basis of the deduced equation, the corresponding calculation process is written and the time resolved diffuse reflectance is calculated. The established model is compared with Monte Carlo simulation of time domain and the traditional medium with semi-infinite thickness, the result shows that our theory is correct. Concurrently, the effects of different boundary conditions on the diffusion equation are compared, it shows that our equations can not only solve the finite boundary problems, when the boundary is infinite, it can replace multilayer medium diffusion model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient algorithm is proposed to reconstruct the spatial distribution of optical properties in heterogeneous media like biological tissues. The light transport through such media is accurately described by the radiative transfer equation in the frequency-domain. The adjoint method is used to efficiently compute the objective function gradient with respect to optical parameters. Numerical tests show that the algorithm is accurate and robust to retrieve simultaneously the absorption µ a and scattering µ s coefficients for lowly and highly absorbing medium. Moreover, the simultaneous reconstruction of µ s and the anisotropy factor g of the Henyey–Greenstein phase function is achieved with a reasonable accuracy. The main novelty in this work is the reconstruction of g which might open the possibility to image this parameter in tissues as an additional contrast agent in optical tomography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photoacoustic imaging is a hybrid modality that is used to image biological tissues. Using multispectral optical excitation, a functional image is obtained due to the tissue specific optical absorption that depends on the wavelengths. To classify multispectral photoacoustic images, supervised methods are classically used. However, definition of the reference spectra is often difficult, and this choice can have a large impact on the classification results. A possible approach to build relevant reference spectra is to use spectrophotometry. This study aims at comparing absorbance measured by a spectrophotometer and multispectral photoacoustic signals of various coloured phantoms. We compare qualitatively the shape of the spectra obtained, using these two modalities for each sample. Our data suggest that spectrophotometry is a promising way to define reference spectra for classification of multispectral photoacoustic datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Spatial frequency domain (SFD) measurement allows rapid and non-contact wide-field imaging of the tissue optical properties, thus has become a potential tool for assessing physiological parameters and therapeutic responses during photodynamic therapy of skin diseases. The conventional SFD measurement requires a reference measurement within the same experimental scenario as that for a test one to calibrate mismatch between the real measurements and the model predictions. Due to the individual physical and geometrical differences among different tissues, organs and patients, an ideal reference measurement might be unavailable in clinical trials. To address this problem, we present a reference-free SFD determination of absorption coefficient that is based on the modulation transfer function (MTF) characterization.Methods: Instead of the absolute amplitude that is used in the conventional SFD approaches, we herein employ the MTF to characterize the propagation of the modulated lights in tissues. With such a dimensionless relative quantity, the measurements can be naturally corresponded to the model predictions without calibrating the illumination intensity. By constructing a three-dimensional database that portrays the MTF as a function of the optical properties (both the absorption coefficient μ a and the reduced scattering coefficient [Formula: see text]) and the spatial frequency, a look-up table approach or a least-square curve-fitting method is readily applied to recover the absorption coefficient from a single frequency or multiple frequencies, respectively.Results: Simulation studies have verified the feasibility of the proposed reference-free method and evaluated its accuracy in the absorption recovery. Experimental validations have been performed on homogeneous tissue-mimicking phantoms with μ a ranging from 0.01 to 0.07 mm-1 and [Formula: see text] = 1.0 or 2.0 mm-1. The results have shown maximum errors of 4.86 and 7% for [Formula: see text] = 1.0 mm-1 and [Formula: see text] = 2.0 mm-1, respectively. We have also presented quantitative ex vivo imaging of human lung cancer in a subcutaneous xenograft mouse model for further validation, and observed high absorption contrast in the tumor region.Conclusions: The proposed method can be applied to the rapid and accurate determination of the absorption coefficient, and better yet, in a reference-free way. We believe this reference-free strategy will facilitate the clinical translation of the SFD measurement to achieve enhanced intraoperative hemodynamic monitoring and personalized treatment planning in photodynamic therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed the ultrasound (US)-guided diffuse optical tomography technique to assist US diagnosis of breast cancer and to predict neoadjuvant chemotherapy response of patients with breast cancer. The technique was implemented using a hand-held hybrid probe consisting of a coregistered US transducer and optical source and detector fibers which couple the light illumination from laser diodes and photon detection to the photomultiplier tube detectors. With the US guidance, diffused light measurements were made at the breast lesion site and the normal contralateral reference site which was used to estimate the background tissue optical properties for imaging reconstruction. However, background optical properties were affected by the chest wall underneath the breast tissue. We have analyzed data from 297 female patients, and results have shown statistically significant correlation between the fitted optical properties (μa and μs') and the chest wall depth. After subtracting the background μa at each wavelength, the difference of computed total hemoglobin (tHb) between malignant and benign lesion groups has improved. For early stage malignant lesions, the area-under-the- receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) has improved from 88.5% to 91.5%. For all malignant lesions, the AUC has improved from 85.3% to 88.1%. Statistical test has revealed the significant difference of the AUC improvements after subtracting background tHb values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optical properties of different cow and pig biological tissues such as skeletal muscle, adipose, spinal cord, and dura mater of the spinal cord were investigated in the spectral range of 350 to 2600 nm. The measurements were carried out by a commercially available spectrophotometer SHIMADZU UV 3101PC. The wavelength dependence on the scattering coefficient has been observed to follow a power-law decay for skeletal muscle and dura mater of spinal cord. The influence of time delay between the sample preparation and measuring of transmittance spectra on the data reasonableness was reviewed. The conclusion about the benefits of 2-µm lasers application in surgery is given for the tissue types listed above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optical properties of biological tissues under stretching are investigated using a full-field ellipsometry technique based on a differential Mueller matrix formalism. Traditional photoelastic-based formalism for extracting the linear birefringence (LB) properties of stretched anisotropic optical samples ignores the effects of the other optical properties of the sample. By contrast, in the formalism proposed in this study, the LB, linear dichroism (LD), circular birefringence (CB), circular dichroism (CD), and depolarization (Dep) properties are fully decoupled. Simulations are performed to evaluate the performance of the two formalisms in extracting the LB properties of optically anisotropic samples with different degrees of Dep, CB, LD, and CD. The practical feasibility of the proposed all-parameter decoupled formalism is then demonstrated using chicken breast muscle tissue. In general, the results show that both formalisms provide a reliable LB measurement performance for healthy chicken breast tissue under stretching. However, while the LB-only formalism has good robustness toward scattering, its measurement performance is seriously degraded for samples with high CB. Thus, of the two formalisms, the proposed all-parameter decoupled formalism provides a more effective approach for examining the anisotropic properties of biological tissues under stretching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultrafast laser surgery of tissue requires precise knowledge of the tissue's optical properties to control the extent of subsurface ablation. Here, we present a method to determine the scattering lengths, ls, and fluence thresholds, Fth, in multilayered and turbid tissue by finding the input energies required to initiate ablation at various depths in each tissue layer. We validated the method using tissue-mimicking phantoms and applied it to porcine vocal folds, which consist of an epithelial (ep) layer and a superficial lamina propia (SLP) layer. Across five vocal fold samples, we found ls;ep = 51.0 ± 3.9 µm, Fth;ep = 1.78 ± 0.08 J/cm², ls;SLP = 26.5 ± 1.6 µm, and Fth;SLP = 1.14 ± 0.12 J/cm2. Our method can enable personalized determination of tissue optical properties in a clinical setting, leading to less patient-to-patient variability and more favorable outcomes in operations, such as femto-LASIK surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of optical modeling biological tissues polycrystalline multilayer networks have been presented. Algorithms providing reconstruction of parameter distributions were determined, which enabled to describe linear and circular birefringence in these tissues. To separate manifestations of the respective mechanisms, we propose the method for space-frequency filtering. Criteria for differentiation of benign and malignant tissues of the women reproductive sphere have been found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skin optical clearing can significantly enhance the ability of biomedical optical imaging. Some alcohols and sugars have been selected to be optical clearing agents (OCAs). In this work, we paid attention to the optical clearing potential of disaccharides. Sucrose and maltose were chosen as typical disaccharides to compare with fructose, an excellent monosaccharide-OCA, by using molecular dynamics simulation and an ex vivo experiment. The experimental results indicated that the optical clearing efficacy of skin increases linearly with the concentration for each OCA. Both the theoretical predication and experimental results revealed that the two disaccharides exerted a better optical clearing potential than fructose at the same concentration, and sucrose is optimal. Since maltose has an extremely low saturation concentration, the other two OCAs with saturation concentrations were treated topically on rat skin in vivo, and optical coherence tomography imaging was applied to monitor the optical clearing process. The results demonstrated that sucrose could cause a more significant increase in imaging depth and signal intensity than fructose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tissue optical clearing (TOC) is helpful for reducing scattering and enhancing the penetration depth of light, and shows promising potential in optimizing optical imaging performances. A mixture of fructose with PEG-400 and thiazone (FPT) is used as an optical clearing agent in mouse dorsal skin and evaluated with OCT angiography (Angio-OCT) by quantifying optical properties and blood flow imaging simultaneously. It is observed that FPT leads to an improved imaging performance for the deeper tissues. The imaging performance improvement is most likely caused by the FPT-induced dehydration of skin, and the reduction of scattering coefficient (more than ∼40.5%) and refractive-index mismatching (more than ∼25.3%) in the superficial (epidermal, dermal, and hypodermal) layers. A high correlation (up to ∼90%) between the relative changes in refractive-index mismatching and Angio-OCT signal strength is measured. The optical clearing rate is ∼5.83 × 10-5 cm/s. In addition, Angio-OCT demonstrates enhanced performance in imaging cutaneous hemodynamics with satisfactory spatiotemporal resolution and contrast when combined with TOC, which exhibits a powerful practical application in studying microcirculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) is a light-based, high-resolution, realtime, noninvasive, and nondestructive imaging modality yielding quasimicroscopic cross-sectional images of cartilage. As yet, comprehensive parameterization and quantification of birefringence and tissue properties have not been performed on human cartilage. PS-OCT and algorithm-based image analysis were used to objectively grade human cartilage degeneration in terms of surface irregularity, tissue homogeneity, signal attenuation, as well as birefringence coefficient and band width, height, depth, and number. Degenerationdependent changes were noted for the former three parameters exclusively, thereby questioning the diagnostic value of PS-OCT in the assessment of human cartilage degeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attenuation of near-infrared (NIR) light intensity as it propagates in a turbid medium like biological tissue is described by modified the Beer-Lambert law (MBLL). The MBLL is generally used to quantify the changes in tissue chromophore concentrations for NIR spectroscopic data analysis. Even though MBLL is effective in terms of providing qualitative comparison, it suffers from its applicability across tissue types and tissue dimensions. In this work, we introduce Lambert-W function-based modeling for light propagation in biological tissues, which is a generalized version of the Beer-Lambert model. The proposed modeling provides parametrization of tissue properties, which includes two attenuation coefficients μ0 and η.We validated our model against the Monte Carlo simulation, which is the gold standard for modeling NIR light propagation in biological tissue. We included numerous human and animal tissues to validate the proposed empirical model, including an inhomogeneous adult human head model. The proposed model, which has a closed form (analytical), is first of its kind in providing accurate modeling of NIR light propagation in biological tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polarization gating is a popular and widely used technique in biomedical optics to sense superficial tissues (colinear detection), deeper volumes (crosslinear detection), and also selectively probe subsuperficial volumes (using elliptically polarized light). As opposed to the conventional linearly polarized illumination, we propose a new protocol of polarization gating that combines coelliptical and counter-elliptical measurements to selectively enhance the contrast of the images. This new method of eliminating multiple-scattered components from the images shows that it is possible to retrieve a greater signal and a better contrast for subsurface structures. In vivo experiments were performed on skin abnormalities of volunteers to confirm the results of the subtraction method and access subsurface information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pulse oximeter is a common medical instrument used for noninvasively monitoring arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2). Currently, the fingertip-type pulse oximeter is the prevalent type of pulse oximeter used. However, it is inconvenient for long-term monitoring, such as that under motion. In this study, a wearable and wireless finger base-type pulse oximeter was designed and implemented using the tissue optical simulation technique and the Monte Carlo method. The results revealed that a design involving placing the light source at 135°-165° and placing the detector at 75°-90° or 90°-105° yields the optimal conditions for measuring SpO2. Finally, the wearable and wireless finger base-type pulse oximeter was implemented and compared with the commercial fingertip-type pulse oximeter. The experimental results showed that the proposed optimal finger base-type pulse oximeter design can facilitate precise SpO2 measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The technique of -optical clearing of biological tissues- is aimed at improving the quality of visualization of structures hidden deep in tissue. In this study, we measured the diffusion coefficient of glucose in bovine skeletal muscle tissue by optical coherence tomography (OCT) in vitro and determined changes that took place in the imaging contrast of muscle fibers, the optical depth of coherent probing, and detection under the influence of aqueous 40% solution of glucose. It was shown that, within 90 min, when the depth of coherent probing increased by 14%, the contrast of OCT images increased fourfold and the depth of coherent detection of structural elements of the tissue increased by 2.4 times. The diffusion coefficient of glucose in the muscle tissue was (2.98 ± 0.94) × 10 cm/s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alterations of the optical and structural (weight, thickness, and square) parameters of skin caused by polyethylene glycol (PEG) with molecular weights of 300 and 400 Da were studied experimentally. The objects of the study were ex vivo skin samples of albino laboratory rats. Collimated transmittance of the skin was measured in the wavelength range 500-900 nm. As a result of exposure to the agents, an increase in the collimated transmittance and a decrease in weight, thickness, and square of skin samples were observed. Analysis of the kinetics of parameters alterations allowed us to measure the diffusion coefficient of the agents in the skin as (1.83 ± 2.22) × 10 and (1.70 ± 1.47) × 10 cm/s for PEG-300 and PEG-400, respectively, and the rate of alterations of the structural parameters. The results obtained in this study can be used for the improvement of existing and development of new methods of noninvasive diagnostics and therapy of subcutaneous diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optical characteristics of biological tissues sampled from the anterior abdominal wall of laboratory rats are for the first time experimentally studied in a wide wavelength range (350-2500 nm). The experiments have been performed in vitro using a LAMBDA 950 (PerkinElmer, United States) spectrophotometer. Inverse Monte Carlo simulation is used to restore the spectral dependences for scattering and absorption coefficients, as well as the scattering anisotropy factor for biological tissue based on the recorded spectra of diffuse reflection and total and collimated transmissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To assess the differences in texture descriptors and optical properties of retinal tissue layers in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and to evaluate their usefulness in the detection of neurodegenerative changes using optical coherence tomography (OCT) image segmentation. Patients and Methods: 38 patients with MS were examined using Stratus OCT. The raw macular OCT data were exported and processed using OCTRIMA software. The enrolled eyes were divided into two groups, based on the presence of optic neuritis (ON) in the history (MSON+ group, n = 36 and MSON- group, n = 31). Data of 29 eyes of 24 healthy subjects (H) were used as controls. A total of seven intraretinal layers were segmented and thickness as well as optical parameters such as contrast, fractal dimension, layer index and total reflectance were measured. Mixed-model ANOVA analysis was used for statistical comparisons. Results: Significant thinning of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), ganglion cell/inner plexiform layer complex (GCL+IPL) and ganglion cell complex (GCC, RNFL+GCL+IPL) was observed between study groups in all comparisons. Significant difference was found in contrast in the RNFL, GCL+IPL, GCC, inner nuclear layer (INL) and outer plexiform layer when comparing MSON+ to the other groups. Higher fractal dimension values were observed in GCL+IPL and INL layers when comparing H vs. MSON+ groups. A significant difference was found in layer index in the RNFL, GCL+IPL and GCC layers in all comparisons. A significant difference was observed in total reflectance in the RNFL, GCL+IPL and GCC layers between the three examination groups. Conclusion: Texture and optical properties of the retinal tissue undergo pronounced changes in MS even without optic neuritis. Our results may help to further improve the diagnostic efficacy of OCT in MS and neurodegeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a new way to extract characteristic features of the Mueller matrix images based on their frequency distributions and the central moments. We take the backscattering Mueller matrices of tissues with distinctive microstructures, and then analyze the frequency distribution histograms (FDHs) of all the matrix elements. For anisotropic skeletal muscle and isotropic liver tissues, we find that the shapes of the FDHs and their central moment parameters, i.e., variance, skewness, and kurtosis, are not sensitive to the sample orientation. Comparisons among different tissues further indicate that the frequency distributions of Mueller matrix elements and their corresponding central moments can be used as indicators for the characteristic microstructural features of tissues. A preliminary application to human cervical cancerous tissues shows that the distribution curves and central moment parameters may have the potential to give quantitative criteria for cancerous tissues detections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a model of the full-field optical coherence tomography (FFOCT) technique for tissue imaging, in which the fractal model of the spatial correlation function of the refractive index of tissue is employed to approximate tissue structure. The results may be helpful for correctly interpreting en face tomographic images obtained with FFOCT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objective Fluorescence measurements in the skin are very much affected by absorption and scattering but existing methods to correct for this are not applicable to superficial skin measurements. Study design/materials and methods The first use of multiple-diameter single fiber reflectance (MDSFR) and single fiber fluorescence (SFF) spectroscopy in human skin was investigated. MDSFR spectroscopy allows a quantification of the full optical properties in superficial skin ( μ a , μ s ′ and γ ), which can next be used to retrieve the corrected – intrinsic – fluorescence of a fluorophore Q μ a , x f . Our goal was to investigate the importance of such correction for individual patients. We studied this in 22 patients undergoing photodynamic therapy (PDT) for actinic keratosis. Results The magnitude of correction of fluorescence was around 4 (for both autofluorescence and protoporphyrin IX). Moreover, it was variable between patients, but also within patients over the course of fractionated aminolevulinic acid PDT (range 2.7–7.5). Patients also varied in the amount of protoporphyrin IX synthesis, photobleaching percentages and resynthesis (>100× difference between the lowest and highest PpIX synthesis). The autofluorescence was lower in actinic keratosis than contralateral normal skin (0.0032 versus 0.0052; P < 0.0005). Conclusions Our results clearly demonstrate the importance of correcting the measured fluorescence for optical properties, because these vary considerably between individual patients and also during PDT. Protoporphyrin IX synthesis and photobleaching kinetics allow monitoring clinical PDT which facilitates individual-based PDT dosing and improvement of clinical treatment protocols. Furthermore, the skin autofluorescence can be relevant for diagnostic use in the skin, but it may also be interesting because of its association with several internal diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Because of the optical features of heart tissue, optical and electrical action potentials are only moderately associated, especially when near-infrared dyes are used in optical mapping (OM) studies. Objective: By simultaneously recording transmural electrical action potentials (APs) and optical action potentials (OAPs), we aimed to evaluate the contributions of both electrical and optical influences to the shape of the OAP upstroke. Methods and Results: A standard glass microelectrode and OM, using an near-infrared fluorescent dye (di-4-ANBDQBS), were used to simultaneously record transmural APs and OAPs in a Langendorff-perfused rabbit heart during atrial, endocardial, and epicardial pacing. The actual profile of the transmural AP upstroke across the LV wall, together with the OAP upstroke, allowed for calculations of the probing-depth constant (k ~2.1 mm, n = 24) of the fluorescence measurements. In addition, the transmural AP recordings aided the quantitative evaluation of the influences of depth-weighted and lateral-scattering components on the OAP upstroke. These components correspond to the components of the propagating electrical wave that are transmural and parallel to the epicardium. The calculated mean values for the depth-weighted and lateral-scattering components, whose sum comprises the OAP upstroke, were (in ms) 10.18 ± 0.62 and 0.0 ± 0.56 for atrial stimulation, 9.37 ± 1.12 and 3.01 ± 1.30 for endocardial stimulation, and 6.09 ± 0.79 and 8.16 ± 0.98 for epicardial stimulation; (n = 8 for each). For this dye, 90% of the collected fluorescence originated up to 4.83 ± 0.18 mm (n = 24) from the epicardium. Conclusions: The co-registration of OM and transmural microelectrode APs enabled the probing depth of fluorescence measurements to be calculated and the OAP upstroke to be divided into two components (depth-weighted and lateral-scattering), and it also allowed the relative strengths of their effects on the shape of the OAP upstroke to be evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the performance of endoscopic diffuse optical spectroscopy probes with circular or linear fiber arrangements for tubular organ cancer detection. Probe performance was measured by penetration depth. A Monte Carlo model was employed to simulate light transport in the hollow cylinder that both emits and receives light from the inner boundary of the sample. The influence of fiber configurations and tissue optical properties on penetration depth was simulated. The results show that under the same condition, probes with circular fiber arrangement penetrate deeper than probes with linear fiber arrangement, and the difference between the two probes' penetration depth decreases with an increase in the “distance between source and detector (SD)” and the radius of the probe. Other results show that the penetration depths and their differences both decrease with an increase in the absorption coefficient and the reduced scattering coefficient but remain constant with changes in the anisotropy factor. Moreover, the penetration depth was more affected by the absorption coefficient than the reduced scattering coefficient. It turns out that in NIR band, probes with linear fiber arrangements are more appropriate for diagnosing superficial cancers, whereas probes with circular fiber arrangements should be chosen for diagnosing adenocarcinoma. But in UV–VIS band, the two probe configurations exhibit nearly the same. These results are useful in guiding endoscopic diffuse optical spectroscopy-based diagnosis for esophageal, cervical, colorectal and other cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonlinear optical (NLO) responses of perovskite-type nanostructures have a variety of potential applications owing to the highly efficient frequency conversion guaranteed by both the material itself and the nanometer-scale configuration. KNbO3 (KN) nanoneedles have been identified as a promising NLO material because of the superior broadband frequency conversion efficiency, and if incident light is propagating in a direction perpendicular to the axis of a nanoneedle, then the phase-matching constraint can be relaxed. Here, the secondharmonic generation (SHG) and third-harmonic generation (THG) responses of both individual and clustered KN nanoneedles are reported. Based on these results, a novel method is proposed for determining the optimal excitation wavelength for NLO imaging of several biological samples, with KN nanoneedles acting as NLO agents. The method is shown to provide the optical features in the focal plane and a more reliable estimation of the optimal excitation wavelength for deep-tissue imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthetic aperture sequential beamforming (SASB) and tissue harmonic imaging (THI) are combined to improve the image quality of medical ultrasound imaging. The technique is evaluated in a comparative study against dynamic receive focusing (DRF). The objective is to investigate if SASB combined with THI improves the image quality compared to DRF-THI. The major benefit of SASB is a reduced bandwidth between the probe and processing unit. A BK Medical 2202 Ultraview ultrasound scanner was used to acquire beamformed RF data for offline evaluation. The acquisition was made interleaved between methods, and data were recorded with and without pulse inversion for tissue harmonic imaging. Data were acquired using a Sound Technology 192 element convex array transducer from both a wire phantom and a tissue mimicking phantom to investigate spatial resolution and penetration. In vivo scans were also performed for a visual comparison. The spatial resolution for SASB-THI is on average 19% better than DRI-THI, and the investigation of penetration showed equally good signal-to-noise ratio. In vivo B-mode scans were made and compared. The comparison showed that SASB-THI reduces the artifact and noise interference and improves image contrast and spatial resolution. VC 2014 Acoustical Society of America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate for the potential of detection of positive surgical margins by the elastic light single-scattering spectroscopy (ELSSS) system with a single optical fiber probe during radical prostatectomy. Materials and Methods: ELSSS spectra in the 450- to 750-nm wavelength regions were obtained from a total of 31 benign tissue samples and 14 malignant tissue samples from 18 patients. The ELSSS spectral data were assessed by comparing these against the “gold standard” histopathology results. Data were analyzed using principal component analysis , followed by linear discriminant analysis. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used for differentiating performance. Results: Classification based on the discriminant score provided a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 97%, in differentiating benign from malignant surgical margins of prostate tissues, with a positive predictive value of 0.92, a negative predictive value of 0.94, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.87. Conclusion: The ELSSS system can accurately distinguish between benign and malignant surgical margins of prostate tissues with a high positive predictive value and negative predictive value. It is a promising technique, and it may be a valuable new tool for determining positive surgical margins during radical prostatectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the major drawbacks in transmission electron microscopy has been the production of three-dimensional views of cells and tissues. Currently, there is no one suitable 3D microscopy technique that answers all questions and serial block face scanning electron microscopy (SEM) fills the gap between 3D imaging using high-end fluorescence microscopy and the high resolution offered by electron tomography. In this review, we discuss the potential of the serial block face SEM technique for studying the three-dimensional organisation of animal, plant and microbial cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acoustic absorption has been measured in a series of biological tissue specimens-porcine muscle, renal and fat tissues-by the standard insert-substitution method, as well as by ultrasonic phase conjugation. Comparison of the experimental results and revealed differences confirm the promise of using phase conjugate waves to measure acoustic losses in biological objects. It is demonstrated that in inhomogeneous tissues, the phase conjugation method makes it possible to obtain a more reliable estimate of dissipative losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skin phantoms are often used to study and model light propagation. However, existing skin phantoms overlook the important effect of surface roughness on light propagation patterns. This paper reports the construction of durable phantoms with controllable surface roughness and bulk optical properties. With silica microspheres as the scattering particles, we theoretically model the scatterer density required to achieve the desired phantom optical properties before fabrication. The surface roughness and the attenuation coefficients of the constructed phantoms were validated using optical profilometry and ballistic spatial filter photometry. These rough skin phantoms were originally developed for laser speckle studies, but could also be used for studying optical phenomena where light experiences surface and bulk scattering at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The multiplexing capability and high sensitivity of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) make this new imaging modality particularly attractive for rapid diagnosis. With 100 nm Ag nanocubes serving as the substrate, this work quantitatively evaluated, for the first time, some of the fundamental parameters of SERS imaging such as blur, spatial resolution and penetration depth. Our results imply that SERS is a high-resolution imaging technique with a blur value of 0.5 μm that is lower than many traditional modalities such as mammography. The spatial resolution was measured to be 1.1 μm, suggesting that SERS images could be collected effectively by adjusting the imaging step size to the same length scale, or no more than 2 μm. The major drawback of SERS imaging is its penetration depth, which is limited by the scattering and absorption of tissues. We demonstrated that enhancement of signal caused by aggregation of multiple nanoparticles could help overcome this potential road-block to in vivo imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have recently demonstrated a means for quantifying the absorption and scattering properties of biological tissue through multidiameter single-fiber reflectance (MDSFR) spectroscopy. These measurements can be used to correct single-fiber fluorescence (SFF) spectra for the influence of optical properties, enabling quantification of intrinsic fluorescence. In our previous work, we have used a series of pinholes to show that selective illumination and light collection using a coherent fiber bundle can simulate a single solid-core optical fiber with variable diameter for the purposes of MDSFR spectroscopy. Here, we describe the construction and validation of a clinical MDSFR/SFF spectroscopy system that avoids the limitations encountered with pinholes and free-space optics. During one measurement, the new system acquires reflectance spectra at the effective diameters of 200, 600, and 1000 µm, and a fluorescence spectrum at an effective diameter of 1000 µm. From these spectra, we measure the absolute absorption coefficient, µa, reduced scattering coefficient, µs', phase function parameter, γ, and intrinsic fluorescence, Qµa,xf, across the measured spectrum. We validate the system using Intralipid- and poly-styrene sphere-based scattering phantoms, with and without the addition of the absorber Evans Blue. Finally, we demonstrate the combined MDSFR/SFF of phantoms with varying concentrations of Intralipid and fluorescein, wherein the scattering properties are measured by MDSFR and used to correct the SFF spectrum for accurate quantification of Qµa,xf. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Fluorescence-enhanced optical imaging based on near-infrared light provides a promising tool to differentiate diseased lesions from normal tissue. However, the measurement sensitivity of the fluorescence signals acquired at the output surface of the tissue is greatly influenced by the tissue structure, the optical properties, the location and the size of the target. In this paper, we present a numerical model based on the Monte Carlo method that allows to simulate time-resolved reflectance signals acquired on the surface of the scalp of a human head model bearing a fluorescent diseased region (tumor, glioma). The influence of tumor depth, tumor size and tumor shape evolution on the computed signals are analyzed by taking into account the multi-layered tissue structure. The simulations show that the mean-time-of-flight and the difference between two mean-times acquired at two source–detector distances are both relevant to this problem type. Furthermore, the simulations suggest that the use of the difference between mean-flight-times may be interesting to probe scattering changes that occur in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Based on spectrophotometric measurements in the range of 700-1100 nm performed with the use of an integrating sphere, we have obtained absorption and scattering spectra of internal organs of mouse, as well as of aqueous solutions of India ink and Lipofundin, which are basic model media for creating optical phantoms of biological tissues. To retrieve the spectra of optical characteristics, we have used original formulas that relate the parameters of the medium with measured spectrophotometric characteristics and that are constructed based on classical analytical models of propagation of light in turbid media. As a result of comparison of spectra of biotissues and model media, we have developed a mixture of Lipofundin and India ink serving as mouse optical phantoms for problems of optical medical diagnostics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present theoretical fundamentals of polarization and correlation analysis of the optical anisotropy of biological tissues. Results of measurements of coordinate distributions of the complex degree of mutual anisotropy (CDMA) that are formed by birefringent structures of the prostate tissue with benign and malignant changes are compared. Magnitudes and ranges of variation of statistical (the firstto fourth-order distribution moments) and correlation (excess of autocorrelation functions) parameters of the coordinate CDMA distributions of histological sections of the prostate postoperative bioptic material are studied. Objective criteria of the diagnostics of the appearance of pathology and of the differentiation of the degree of its severity are determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fiber-optic sensor is a key element for in vivo spectral measurements of the diffusion reflection of biotissues. Its construction and geometry of the detection of light emerging from the biotissue have a significant effect upon the spectral composition of the detected light. This work presents the results of theoretical and experimental studies of the effect of the detection area on the spectral composition of diffusion reflection of skin. It was found that significant losses took place when detecting the light of the red and near-infrared light ranges if the dimensions of the detection area were comparable with the dimensions of the illuminated skin. The losses can be minimized with an increase in the detection area up to dimensions exceeding those of the illuminated skin by a factor of 3-4. In this case, losses during detection of the long-wavelength spectral range of light diffusely reflected by the skin are less than 5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the theory of radiation transfer and a model that describes the structure and optical properties of biotissues, we have found spectral conditions of irradiation of the skin surface that ensure efficient generation of molecular oxygen O in the dermis due to the photodissociation of blood oxyhemoglobin. We show that, for maximal local O formation at depths z ≤ 0.2 mm, 0.2 mm < z ≤ 0.9 mm, 0.9 mm < z ≤ 2.5 mm, and z > 2.5 mm, it is more effective to use wavelengths in the intervals 418 ± 5, 575 ± 5, 585 ± 5, and 600 ± 5 nm, respectively. Physical reasons for the shift of optimal wavelengths toward the red range of the spectrum are described. We show that they are based on the selectivity of optical properties of the skin biotissue, which acts as of a kind of spectral filter the transmission curve of which depends on the depth. It is found that irradiation at a wavelength near 575 nm is optimal for the generation of a maximal amount of O in the intire bulk of the dermis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative measurement of collagen gel contraction plays a critical role in the field of tissue engineering because it provides spatial-temporal assessment (e.g., changes of gel area and diameter during the contraction process) reflecting the cell behavior and tissue material properties. So far the assessment of collagen gels relies on manual segmentation, which is time-consuming and suffers from serious intra- and inter-observer variability. In this study, we propose an automatic method combining various image processing techniques to resolve these problems. The proposed method first detects the maximal feasible contraction range of circular references (e.g., culture dish) and avoids the interference of irrelevant objects in the given image. Then, a three-step color conversion strategy is applied to normalize and enhance the contrast between the gel and background. We subsequently introduce a deformable circular model which utilizes regional intensity contrast and circular shape constraint to locate the gel boundary. An adaptive weighting scheme was employed to coordinate the model behavior, so that the proposed system can overcome variations of gel boundary appearances at different contraction stages. Two measurements of collagen gels (i.e., area and diameter) can readily be obtained based on the segmentation results. Experimental results, including 120 gel images for accuracy validation, showed high agreement between the proposed method and manual segmentation with an average dice similarity coefficient larger than 0.95. The results also demonstrated obvious improvement in gel contours obtained by the proposed method over two popular, generic segmentation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]