Near-infrared optical properties of ex vivo human skin and subcutaneous tissues measured using the Monte Carlo inversion technique
Abstract
The absorption and transport scattering coefficients of caucasian and negroid dermis, subdermal fat and muscle have been measured for all wavelengths between 620 and 1000 nm. Samples of tissue 2 mm thick were measured ex vivo to determine their reflectance and transmittance. A Monte Carlo model of the measurement system and light transport in tissue was then used to recover the optical coefficients. The sample reflectance and transmittance were measured using a single integrating sphere 'comparison' method. This has the advantage over conventional double-sphere techniques in that no corrections are required for sphere properties, and so measurements sufficiently accurate to recover the absorption coefficient reliably could be made. The optical properties of caucasian dermis were found to be approximately twice those of the underlying fat layer. At 633 nm, the mean optical properties over 12 samples were 0.033 mm(-1) and 0.013 mm(-1) for absorption coefficient and 2.73 mm(-1) and 1.26 mm(-1) for transport scattering coefficient for caucasian dermis and the underlying fat layer respectively. The transport scattering coefficient for all biological samples showed a monotonic decrease with increasing wavelength. The method was calibrated using solid tissue phantoms and by comparison with a temporally resolved technique.
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The reduced scattering coefficients at 633 nm ranged from 2.73 mm−1 to 3.21 mm−1 in the epidermal/dermal layers tested from 5 samples compared with 1.26 mm−1 in the dermis.
“Similarly, the reduced scattering coefficients at 633 nm ranged from 2.73 mm−1 to 3.21 mm−1 in the epidermal/dermal layers tested from 5 samples compared with 1.26 mm−1 in the dermis.”
From Relevance and utility of the in-vivo and ex-vivo optical properties of the skin reported in the literature: a review [Invited] (2023) · cites this paper as [50]
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- Authors
- Simpson, C. R., Kohl, M., Essenpreis, M., & Cope, M.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- ORCID
- Cope, Mark
- Venue
- Physics in Medicine and Biology
- Publisher
- IOP Publishing
- Published
- 1998-09-01
- Volume
- 43
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 2465-2478
- ISSN
- 0031-9155 (ISSN-L)
- 1361-6560
- OpenAlex
- W2029141895
- Cited by
- 651
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 27 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 30 · 2015: 40 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 39 · 2012: 31
- FWCI
- 9.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Physics in Medicine and Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Optical Imaging and Spectroscopy Techniques
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biophysics › Spectroscopy Techniques in Biomedical and Chemical Research
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Optical Coherence Tomography Applications
- Keywords
- near-infrared optical properties, human skin, dermis, subcutaneous adipose tissue, muscle, absorption coefficient, reduced scattering coefficient, Monte Carlo inversion, optical transmittance, wavelength dependence, tissue phantoms
- MeSH terms
- Biophysics, Female, Humans, Infrared Rays, Models, Biological, Monte Carlo Method, Scattering, Radiation, Skin, Skin Physiological Phenomena, Skin Pigmentation, Spectrophotometry, Infrared, Muscle, Skeletal, Dermis, Biophysical Phenomena, In Vitro Techniques
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