METHOD OF PROCESSING A BROADBAND ELASTIC SCATTERING SPECTRUM OBTAINED FROM TISSUE

摘要

A method of processing a broadband optical elastic scattering spectrumobtained from tissue comprises the steps of: obtaining, in a plurality offitting ranges of wavelength, fitting parameters giving a best fit to thespectrum in the respective fitting ranges; and recording the fittingparameters as a parameter set representing the spectrum; wherein in at leastone fitting range the fit is to the absorption of at least one predeterminedcomponent, for example, haemoglobin, and in the reminder of the fitting rangesthe fit is to a smooth function. The fitting parameters may be used forclassifying the tissue, preferably using hierarchical cluster analysis. Anapparatus for obtaining elastic scattering spectra from tissue and adapted toprocess the spectra using the above method is also claimed.