Optical sectioning using a fiber probe with an angled illumination-collection geometry: evaluation in engineered tissue phantoms

We present a fiber optic probe that combines polarized illumination and detection with an angled distal probe geometry to detect the size-dependent scattering at a specific depth within epithelium. Analysis of the scattering signal by use of Mie theory allows the extraction of scatterer size and size distribution-key parameters for precancer detection. The probe was evaluated in two tissue phantoms: polystyrene beads atop collagen gel and multiple layers of cancer cells atop collagen. We also present in vivo measurements in the oral cavity of normal volunteers. The sizes of scatterers extracted from the scattering spectra corresponded to independently measured values. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America.