Determination of optical properties of slices of turbid media by diffuse CW laser light scattering profilometry

In this work we present a method for determining the optical parameters of turbid media, namely its absorption coefficient (μ_a) and its reduced scattering coefficient . It is based on the measurement of CW transmittance profiles and analysis of the experimental data by a theoretical model based on the diffusion approximation (DA) of the radiative transfer equation (RTE). The method developed has been investigated with solid polymer probes but it could be applied for liquid materials as well. Experimental results are presented and compared to those of other authors together with a discussion about the accuracy of measurements. In addition, measurements using integrating spheres as well as Monte Carlo simulations are also presented to validate these results.