The Optical Absorption and Scattering Properties of Tissues in the Visible and Near-Infrared Wavelength Range

Abstract

The development of diagnostic and therapeutic photomedicine has generateda need to determine the optical properties of tissues in the U.V.,visible and intrared regions of the spectrum. In this paper we willreview the experimental techniques and resulting data on the opticalprperties of mamalian tissues. These will include recent resultsfrom this laboratory as well as a summary of the work of other groups.Measurements are most abundant at around 630nm, the wavelength ofgreatest current interest for clinical photodynamic therapy. We willuse these data as the reference values for examaning the wavelength-dependenceof the optical properties.