Time-resolved diffuse reflectance measurement carried out on the head of an adult at large source-detector separation.

Multichannel time-resolved optical monitoring system was constructed for measurements of diffuse reflectance in optically turbid medium at very large source-detector separation up to 9 cm. The system is based on femtosecond TiSa laser and sensitive photomultiplier tube detector. The laser light of 300mW of power was delivered to the surface of the head with the use of an optical fiber. A beam expander was applied in order to distribute the laser light on a large spot which allowed to avoid energetic stimulation of the tissue. The photomultiplier tube detector was positioned directly on the surface of the medium at the distance of 9cm from the center of the source position. In this paper we report results of an in-vivo experiment carried out on the head of an adult healthy volunteer. The time-resolved system was applied during intravenous injection of an optical contrast agent (indocyanine green - ICG) and the distributions of times of flight of photons were successfully acquired showing inflow and washout of the dye to the tissue. Time-courses of the moments of distributions of times of flight of photons are presented and compared with the results obtained simultaneously at shorter source-detector separations (3 cm, 4 cm and 5 cm).