Analysis of changes in reflectance measurements on biological tissues subjected to different probe pressures

Spectral reflectance measurements of biological tissues have been studied for early diagnoses of several pathologies such as cancer. These measurements are often performed with a fiber optic probe in contact with the tissue surface. We report a study in which reflectance measurements are obtained in vivo from mouse thigh muscle while varying the contact pressure of the fiber optic probe. It is determined that the probe pressure is a variable that affects the local optical properties of the tissue. The reflectance spectra are analyzed with an analytical model that extracts the tissue optical properties and facilitates the understanding of underlying physiological changes induced by the probe pressure. (C) 2008 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.