Patent ID: 8406861

Claim:
A device for measuring light scattering and absorption properties of a tissue, the device comprising: a probe having proximal and distal ends, said probe comprising first and second optical fibers, wherein said first optical fiber is operatively connected to a light source, and said second optical fiber is operatively connected to an optical detector, wherein said first and said second optical fibers are substantially parallel to each other at said distal end, and are separated at said distal end by a distance of less than 2 mm, wherein said first and second optical fibers are arranged in said probe at an angle, θ=10° to 45° , to the plane perpendicular to the distal end of said probe and wherein the tips of the optical fibers at the distal end are polished such that they are parallel to the surface of a probed medium; and a computer-readable medium comprising instructions for obtaining an absolute reflectance value from a measured reflectance spectrum, the medium comprising: a) instructions for receiving a value for measured light energy from a turbid medium of interest: b) instructions for receiving values for measured light energy from a calibration turbid medium of known reflectance and absorption properties; c) instructions for calculating an absolute reflectance value, R, at a given wavelength, for said turbid medium of interest, said instructions comprising applying the values received according to instructions (a) and (b) to the relationship of Equation (1) R = S P ⁡ ( λ ) S C ⁡ ( λ ) ⁢ R C ⁡ ( λ ) Equation ⁢ ⁢ ( 1 ) wherein S p (λ) is the reflected light energy detected from the turbid medium, S c (λ) is the reflected light energy detected from a turbid medium with known reduced scattering and/or absorption coefficients, and R c (λ) is the reflectance from said turbid medium with known reduced scattering and/or absorption coefficients; d) instructions for determining absorption and/or reduced scattering coefficients for said turbid medium of interest by applying the relationship of Equation (2) to said absolute reflectance value, R R = ( a ⁢ ⁢ μ s ′ ) ⁢ exp ⁡ ( - μ a ⁢ b ( μ a ⁢ μ s ′ ) c ) Equation ⁢ ⁢ ( 2 ) wherein a, b, and c are constants, μ s ′ is the reduced scattering coefficient of said turbid medium of interest, and μ a is the absorption coefficient of said turbid medium of interest; and e) instructions for transmitting a value of R, μ s ′ and/or μ a to an output device.