A possible method for retrieval of particle size distribution from its phase function in a fractal tissue model

摘要

In problems relating to light propagation in soft biomedical tissues, the tissue is generally modeled as a turbid medium. In one of the often used models, the suspended scatterers have been assumed to be of spherical shape following a fractal size distribution law. This paper studies the relationship between scattering phase function features of tissue and the fractal dimension within the framework of a fractal tissue model. It is demonstrated that witin the framework of this model the measurement of scattering phase function at two or three near-forward angles can be employed to infer fractal dimension of the model tissue. This method for tissue characterization therefore could be a potentially useful method for early detection of cancer of soft tissues.