Measurement of the reduced scattering coefficient of turbid media using single fiber reflectance spectroscopy: Fiber diameter and phase function dependence

textabstractThis paper presents a relationship between the intensity collected by a single fiber reflectance device (RSF) and the fiber diameter (dfib) and the reduced scattering coefficient (μ's) and phase function (p(θ)) of a turbid medium. Monte Carlo simulations are used to identify and model a relationship between RSF and dimensionless scattering (μ'sdfib). For μ'sdfib > 10 we find that RSF is insensitive to p(θ). A solid optical phantom is constructed with μ's ≈ 220 mm-1 and is used to convert RSF of any turbid medium to an absolute scale. This calibrated technique provides accurate estimates of μ's over a wide range ([0.05-8] mm-1) for a range of dfib ([0.2-1] mm)