Light and thermal fields in multilayer skin tissue exposed to laser irradiation

A simple model for calculating the light fields created by a laser beam in a multilayer biological tissue is proposed. On the basis of this model, the coefficient of diffuse reflection of skin and the penetration depth of light are found for the wavelength range 400–850 nm and for a wide range of variation in the structural and optical characteristics of the medium. The effect of localized light absorption by blood vessels is taken into account. The results obtained are shown to agree reasonably with published theoretical and experimental data. Using the found depth distributions of the absorbed energy as source functions for the thermal problem, the analytical solution for the spatiotemporal structure of the temperature field in the cutaneous covering irradiated by a laser beam was obtained. The thermal fields determined in terms of single-and two-layer models are compared, and the corresponding differences are discussed. Examples of the temperature depth profiles obtained at different instants after the beginning of irradiation are presented. The results obtained in terms of the analytical method proposed are demonstrated to agree satisfactorily with those yielded by the numerical finite difference scheme of the solution of the system of heat conduction equations.