Monte Carlo model and single-scattering approximation of the propagation of polarized light in turbid media containing glucose

We present a single-scattering model as well as a Monte Carlo model of the effect of glucose on polarized light in turbid media. Glucose alters the Mueller-matrix patterns of diffusely backscattered and forward-scattered light because glucose molecules rotate the polarization plane of linearly polarized light. For example, the angles of rotation in Mueller-matrix elements S_(21) and S_(12) are linearly related to the concentration of glucose and increase with the source–detector distance. In the nondiffusion regime, the two models agree well with each other. In the diffusion regime, the single-scattering model is invalid, but there still exists a linear relationship between the angles of rotation in the Mueller-matrix elements and the concentration of glucose, which is predicted by the Monte Carlo model