Estimation of light transport parameters in biological media using coherent backscattering

The suitability of using the angular peak shape of the coherent backscattered light for estimating the light transport parameters of biological media has been investigated. Milk and methylene blue doped milk were used as tissue phantoms for the measurements carried out with a He-Ne laser (632.8 nm). Results indicate that while the technique accurately estimates the transport length, it can determine the absorption coefficient only when the absorption is moderately high (α>1 cm⁻¹) for the long transport lengths typical of tissues. Further, the possibility of determining the anisotropy factor by estimating the single scattering contribution to the diffuse background is examined.