Effects of phantom microstructure on their optical properties

Jošt Stergar; Rok Hren; Matija Milanič

doi:10.1117/1.JBO.29.9.093502

6 May 2024 Effects of phantom microstructure on their optical properties

Jošt Stergar, Rok Hren, Matija Milanič

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Journal of Biomedical Optics, Vol. 29, Issue 9, 093502 (May 2024). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.29.9.093502

Abstract

Significance

Developing stable, robust, and affordable tissue-mimicking phantoms is a prerequisite for any new clinical application within biomedical optics. To this end, a thorough understanding of the phantom structure and optical properties is paramount.

Aim

We characterized the structural and optical properties of PlatSil SiliGlass phantoms using experimental and numerical approaches to examine the effects of phantom microstructure on their overall optical properties.

Approach

We employed scanning electron microscope (SEM), hyperspectral imaging (HSI), and spectroscopy in combination with Mie theory modeling and inverse Monte Carlo to investigate the relationship between phantom constituent and overall phantom optical properties.

Results

SEM revealed that microspheres had a broad range of sizes with average (13.47±5.98) μm and were also aggregated, which may affect overall optical properties and warrants careful preparation to minimize these effects. Spectroscopy was used to measure pigment and SiliGlass absorption coefficient in the VIS-NIR range. Size distribution was used to calculate scattering coefficients and observe the impact of phantom microstructure on scattering properties. The results were surmised in an inverse problem solution that enabled absolute determination of component volume fractions that agree with values obtained during preparation and explained experimentally observed spectral features. HSI microscopy revealed pronounced single-scattering effects that agree with single-scattering events.

Conclusions

We show that knowledge of phantom microstructure enables absolute measurements of phantom constitution without prior calibration. Further, we show a connection across different length scales where knowledge of precise phantom component constitution can help understand macroscopically observable optical properties.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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Jošt Stergar, Rok Hren, and Matija Milanič "Effects of phantom microstructure on their optical properties," Journal of Biomedical Optics 29(9), 093502 (6 May 2024). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.29.9.093502

Received: 18 January 2024; Accepted: 27 March 2024; Published: 6 May 2024

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KEYWORDS

Optical spheres

Scattering

Optical properties

Mie scattering

Absorption

Microspheres

Tissues

Significance

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