Light source distribution and scattering phase function influence light transport in diffuse multi-layered media

Red and near-Infrared light is often used as a useful diagnostic and imaging probe for highly scattering media such as biological tissues, fruits and vegetables. Part of diffusively reflected light gives interesting information related to the tissue subsurface, whereas light recorded at further distances may probe deeper into the interrogated turbid tissues. However, modelling diffusive events occurring at short source-detector distances requires to consider both the distribution of the light sources and the scattering phase functions. In this report, a modified Monte Carlo model is used to compute light transport in curved and multi-layered tissue samples which are covered with a thin and highly diffusing tissue layer. Different light source distributions (ballistic, diffuse or Lambertian) are tested with specific scattering phase functions (modified or not modified Henyey-Greenstein, Gegenbauer and Mie) to compute the amount of backscattered and transmitted light in apple and human skin structures. Comparisons between simulation results and experiments carried out with a multispectral imaging setup confirm the soundness of the theoretical strategy and may explain the role of the skin on light transport in whole and half-cut apples. Other computational results show that a Lambertian source distribution combined with a Henyey-Greenstein phase function provides a higher photon density in the stratum corneum than in the upper dermis layer. Furthermore, it is also shown that the scattering phase function may affect the shape and the magnitude of the Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution (BRDF) exhibited at the skin surface.