Open AccessInstrument response function acquisition in reflectance geometry for time-resolved diffuse optical measurements
Author(s) -
Ileana Pirovano,
Rebecca Re,
Alessia Candeo,
Davide Contini,
Alessandro Torricelli,
Lorenzo Spinelli
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
biomedical optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.362
H-Index - 86
ISSN - 2156-7085
DOI - 10.1364/boe.380996
Subject(s) - bidirectional reflectance distribution function , optics , diffuse reflection , calibration , diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transform , diffuse optical imaging , computer science , time domain , function (biology) , absorption (acoustics) , photon , data acquisition , optical transfer function , physics , reflectivity , computer vision , chemistry , biochemistry , photocatalysis , quantum mechanics , evolutionary biology , tomography , catalysis , biology , operating system
In time-domain diffuse optical spectroscopy, the simultaneous acquisition of the time-of-flight distribution (DTOF) of photons traveling in a diffusive medium and of the instrument response function (IRF) is necessary to perform quantitative measurements of optical properties (absorption and reduced scattering coefficients) while taking into account the non-idealities of a real system ( e.g. temporal resolution and time delays). The IRF acquisition can be a non-trivial and time-consuming operation that requires directly facing the injection and collection fibers. Since this operation is not always possible, a new IRF measurement scheme is here proposed where the IRF is acquired in reflectance geometry from a corrugate reflective surface. Validation measurements on a set of reference homogenous phantoms have been performed, resulting in an error in the optical properties estimation lower than 10% with respect to the typical IRF configuration. Thus, the proposed method proved to be a reliable approach that after a preliminary calibration can be exploited in a laboratory and clinical set-ups, leading to faster and more accurate measurements and reducing the operator-dependent performance.