Rapid Diagnosis of Inhomogeneity in Turbid Media

In this work, a novel approach is proposed that would be able to rapidly diagnose the presence and location of inhomogeneity in turbid media. In this approach, ultrafast pulse laser is used as a detecting source and the time-resolved backscattered light signals are collected around the boundary of the target. The log slopes in the decaying log tail of the detected signals will be analyzed and used for the detection and image of embedded inhomogeneity. The relatively high absorption in the foreign object will result in a steeper log slope when the detector is located close to the object. A slim graphite of 1.6 mm in diameter embedded in a tissue phantom has been successfully detected in a preliminary experiment and the location of the graphite is determined from the v-groove profile of log slopes. A Monte Carlo program has been developed to further simulate and investigate the feasibility and quality of this method to diagnose the presence of a tumor-like material embedded inside a highly scattering media. A 2D reconstructed image confirms the potential of this novel method to detect and image accurately and rapidly the presence of tumors in biological tissues.