Characteristic length and time scales of the highly forward scattering of photons in random media

Abstract

Background: Elucidation of the highly forward scattering of photons in random media such as biological tissue is crucial for further developments of optical imaging using photon transport models. We evaluated length and time scales of the photon scattering in three-dimensional media. Methods: We employed analytical solutions of the time-dependent radiative transfer, M-th order delta-Eddington, and photon diffusion equations (RTE, dEM, and PDE). We calculated the fluence rates at different source-detector distances and optical properties. Results: We found that the zeroth order dEM and PDE, which approximate the highly forward scattering to the isotropic scattering, are valid in longer length and time scales than approximately 10/μ't and 40/ μ'tv, respectively, where μ't is the reduced transport coefficient and v the speed of light in a medium. The first and second order dEM, which approximate the highly forward-peaked phase function by the first two and three Legendre moments, are valid in the longer scales than approximately 4.0/ μ't and 6.3/ μ'tv; 2.8/m μ'tand 3.5/m μ'tv, respectively. The boundary conditions less influence the length scales, while they reduce the times scales from those for bulk at the longer length scale than approximately 4.0/m μ't. Conclusion: Our findings are useful for constructions of accurate and efficient photon transport models. We evaluated length and time scales of the highly forward scattering of photons in various kinds of three-dimensional random media by analytical solutions of the radiative transfer, M-th order delta-Eddington, and photon diffusion equations.