Study of inhomogeneities in turbid media. Experimental and numerical results

Near Infrared diffuse transmission of light through tissue is a tool for noninvasive imaging for diagnostic purposes. Most of the research has been focused over breast cancer imaging; however, major efforts have been done in cerebral tomography and topography imaging, as well as small animal organs imaging systems. In this work, we investigate the transmitted light profiles when scattering and absorbing cylindrical inhomogeneities are submerged at different depths inside slabs of turbid media. We analyze the transilluminance profiles when the phantom is scanned using both, CW and time resolved detection. The study of the spatial profiles obtained with CW light, shows an apparently contradictory effect when the absorption coefficient of the inclusion is higher than that of the bulk. In this case, the intensity profiles displays a peak of higher intensity where the inclusion is located, as it would be expected for a less absorbing inclusion. The experiments were compared and analyzed with a theoretical model for cylindrical inclusions and Monte Carlo simulations implemented in a Graphic Processing Unit (GPU).