Sources of contrast in confocal reflectance imaging

Abstract

The relationship between optical properties and image contrast in confocal imaging is investigated. A Monte Carlo simulation has been developed to analyze the effects of changes in scattering, index of refraction, and absorption in a three-layer medium. Contrast was calculated from the computed signal-to-background ratios for changes in tissue optical properties. Results show that the largest source of contrast is changes in refractive index.