The time spectrum of photons diffusely reflected from a turbid medium such as tissue following a short incident light pulse depends on the optical absorption and scattering properties of the medium. The results of diffusion model calculations are presented, together with preliminary experimental tests of the model using liquid phatoms to simulate tissue optical properties.
B. C. Wilson, Y. D. Park, Y. Hefetz, M. S. Patterson, S. J. Madsen, S. L. Jacques, "Potential of time-resolved reflectance measurements for noninvasive determination of tissue optical properties," SPIE Proceedings of Thermal and Optical Interactions with Biological and Related Composite Materials, edited by M. J. Berry, G. M. Harpole, 1064, 97 (1989).