Backreflectance from the blood plexus in the skin under the low-power laser heating

The intensity of light backscattered when low-power laser radiation is incident on the skin is investigated in vivo. The exposure of blood to low-power laser light in the absorption range of haemoglobin leads to an increased intensity of the backscattered light. The theoretical calculation using the existing optical model of erythrocyte aggregation suggests that the fragmentation of erythrocyte aggregates is the most probable mechanism leading to the enhanced backscattering.