Abstract
The transition of linearly polarized light into randomly polarized light is discussed in terms of a diffusion process characterized by a diffusivity [radians2/mean free path] for the change in orientation of the polarized light. The linearly polarized transmission data of Jary et al. (Applied Optics 37:7357-7367, 1998) and the circularly polarized transmission data of Schmitt et al. (Applied Optics 31:6535-6546, 1992) are analyzed. The results indicate that tissues (liver, blood) exhibit a lower diffusivity, 0.0015 [radians2/mean free path], relative to the diffusivity of polystyrene microspheres in the 0.2-1.0 μm dia. range in water (2.0-0.025 [rad2/mfp]). The tissue diffusivity would equal the diffusivity expected for a 2.8-μm dia. polystyrene sphere in water if the linear polarization behavior for polystyrene microspheres is extrapolated linearly to larger diameters that match the behavior for tissues.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 435-444 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering |
| Volume | 3597 |
| State | Published - 1999 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Event | Proceedings of the 1999 Optical Tomography and Spectroscopy of Tissue III - San Jose, CA, USA Duration: Jan 24 1999 → Jan 28 1999 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Computer Science Applications
- Applied Mathematics
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering