Effects of temperature-dependent optical properties on the fluence rate and temperature of biological tissue during low-level laser therapy.

The effects of temperature-dependent optical properties on the change of fluence rate and temperature distribution within biological tissues during low-level laser therapy (LLLT) were investigated by experimental and numerical methods. The fluence rate and temperature within a porcine skin were measured in vitro using an optical fiber sensor and a thermocouple, respectively, while irradiating the sample with a continuous wave laser (IPG Laser GmbH, Burbach, Germany, 1,064 nm, 3.14 W/cm(2)). The absorption and reduced scattering coefficients of porcine skin were estimated using an inverse adding-doubling algorithm from the total reflectance and transmittance measured with a double-integrating sphere. It was shown that the reduced scattering coefficient of porcine skin decreased significantly as the skin temperature increased within the range of 26-40 °C. To incorporate the temperature dependency of tissue optical properties in the simulation, a mathematical model that adopted coupled equations for fluence rate and bioheat transfer was developed. It was shown that the predicted fluence rate and temperature by the proposed mathematical model agreed closely with the measured values of porcine skin. The calculation of human skin temperature using the developed model revealed that the skin temperature could be significantly underestimated if the temperature dependency of optical properties of human skin were ignored during LLLT simulation.