Lookup table-based inverse model for determining optical properties of turbid media

We present a lookup table (LUT)-based inverse model for determining the optical properties of turbid media from steady-state diffuse reflectance spectra that is valid for fiber-based probe geometries with close source-detector separations and tissue with low albedo. The lookup table is based solely on experimental measurements of calibration standards. We used tissue-simulating phantoms to validate the accuracy of the LUT inverse model. Our results show excellent agreement between the expected and extracted values of the optical parameters. In addition, the LUT represents a significant improvement in accuracy at short source-detector separations (300 mu m) and low albedo (similar to 0.35). We also present in vivo data from clinically normal and malignant nonmelanoma skin cancers fit to the LUT-based model. (C) 2008 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. [DOI: 10.1117/1.2981797]