Fluorescence-based imaging is a powerful tool for studying biological systems, but its application in vivo is hindered by tissue scattering and autofluorescence. To enhance the usefulness of non-invasive in vivo fluorescence imaging, a comprehensive understanding of these factors is crucial. This presentation introduces a diffusion model that represents a fluorophore within tissue, verified using Monte Carlo simulations and experimental measurements with tissue-like phantom slabs of varying reduced scattering coefficients and thicknesses. The study reveals a correlation between fluorescence intensity (FI) and thickness, confirming the expected decay. Surprisingly, the exponential decay rate decreases with increasing scattering coefficient, contradicting intuition. This counterintuitive finding suggests that highly scattering media result in weaker FI decay dependence on tissue depth, reducing fluorescence artifacts from deeper regions.
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