Goniometric measurement for the estimation of anisotropy coefficient of human and animal pancreas

Estimation of optical properties of biologic tissues is determinant for laser dosimetry in medical applications. Tissues highly absorb and scatter the light in near infrared spectrum, where the laser provides therapeutic effects. Novel frontiers of clinical practice, e.g., the employment of laser light for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, require information about pancreas-laser interaction, which are crucial for therapy management. The property of biological tissues to scatter the light traveling through is described by the anisotropy coefficient (g). The relationship between g and the angular distribution of the scattered light is described by Henyey-Greenstein phase function. The measurement of angular distribution of scattered light is performed by the goniometric technique. This paper describes the estimation of g of ex vivo pancreas at 1064 nm, performed by a goniometric-based system, where a photodetector measures intensities of scattered light at fixed angles between -120° and 120°. A two-term Henyey-Greenstein phase function has been employed to estimate anisotropy coefficient for forward (g_fs) and backward scattering (g_bs). Experimental trails were performed to assess the repeatability of measurement system: percentage value of standard deviation is generally lower than 8% for angles higher (lower) than 13° (13°). Measurements were performed for the first time on healthy swine pancreas, aiming to investigate the influence of coagulation temperature: g_fs decreases from 0.94 (at 25 °C) to 0.93 (at 80 °C). Afterwards, the same set up has been employed for the estimation of g of human pancreas affected by neuroendocrine tumor, which presented an estimated values for g_fs of 0.89.