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13 - Instrumentation and experimental methods for diffuse tissue spectroscopy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2018

Irving J. Bigio  and
Sergio Fantini
Irving J. Bigio
Affiliation:
Boston University
Sergio Fantini
Affiliation:
Tufts University, Massachusetts
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Summary

Optical measurements on biological tissues require four major components: a light source, a means to deliver light to and from the investigated tissue, an optical detector, and a method to process the signals generated by the optical detectors. In this chapter, we build upon the general description of spectroscopy instrumentation in Section 4.7, and we add detail about all four components as applicable to systems devoted to diffuse optical measurements on biological tissue. We also depict typical configurations of time-resolved instrumentation in the time domain and frequency domain. Additionally, we address the safe limits of skin exposure to light, which ultimately set the maximum levels of radiant exposure or optical intensity that can be delivered to tissue and still be considered noninvasive for diagnostic applications. (In Chapter 19, we will consider higher exposure levels, which may be encountered with therapeutic applications.)

Light sources

Relevant properties of light sources for diffuse optical spectroscopy

Optical spectroscopy in the diffusion regime does not involve specific requirements for the illumination source in terms of its coherence (except for diffuse correlation spectroscopy, as discussed in Section 8.9.1), polarization, directionality, and bandwidth. In fact, polarization and directionality of the incident light are quickly lost, as multiple scattering events result in a distribution of photon paths, and randomize the photon polarization and direction of propagation. Coherence (to be discussed extensively in Chapter 18) is reduced by virtue of the range of optical pathlengths between the source and a detection point. Additionally, the broad spectral features typically associated with absorption and scattering of biological tissue do not translate into stringent spectral resolution requirements, so that highly monochromatic illumination is usually not required. The relevant properties of light illumination for optical tissue spectroscopy in the diffusion regime are mostly:

  • • the spectral distribution, i.e., the set of wavelengths or wavelength bands of illumination;

  • • the temporal profile of the source emission, which is constant in the continuous-wave (CW) domain, pulsed in the time domain (TD), or intensity-modulated in the frequency domain (FD);

  • • the radiant exposure (H) or intensity (I) delivered to the tissue surface.

    • Spectral distribution of illumination

    Quantifying the concentrations of multiple tissue chromophores, or their changes due to physiological processes, requires measurements at multiple wavelengths. At the very least, the number of wavelengths must equal the number of chromophores, as discussed in Chapter 10 in relation to Eq. (10.1).

    Information

    Type
    Chapter
    Information
    Quantitative Biomedical Optics
    Theory, methods, and applications
     , pp. 391 - 419
    Publisher: Cambridge University Press
    Print publication year: 2016

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