Monte Carlo analysis on probe performance for endoscopic diffuse optical spectroscopy of tubular organ

We investigated the performance of endoscopic diffuse optical spectroscopy probes with circular or linear fiber arrangements for tubular organ cancer detection. Probe performance was measured by penetration depth. A Monte Carlo model was employed to simulate light transport in the hollow cylinder that both emits and receives light from the inner boundary of the sample. The influence of fiber configurations and tissue optical properties on penetration depth was simulated. The results show that under the same condition, probes with circular fiber arrangement penetrate deeper than probes with linear fiber arrangement, and the difference between the two probes' penetration depth decreases with an increase in the “distance between source and detector (SD)” and the radius of the probe. Other results show that the penetration depths and their differences both decrease with an increase in the absorption coefficient and the reduced scattering coefficient but remain constant with changes in the anisotropy factor. Moreover, the penetration depth was more affected by the absorption coefficient than the reduced scattering coefficient. It turns out that in NIR band, probes with linear fiber arrangements are more appropriate for diagnosing superficial cancers, whereas probes with circular fiber arrangements should be chosen for diagnosing adenocarcinoma. But in UV-VIS band, the two probe configurations exhibit nearly the same. These results are useful in guiding endoscopic diffuse optical spectroscopy-based diagnosis for esophageal, cervical, colorectal and other cancers.