Monte Carlo model and single-scattering approximation of the propagation of polarized light in turbid media containing glucose

Abstract

We present a single-scattering model as well as a Monte Carlo model of the effect of glucose on polarized light in turbid media. Glucose alters the Mueller-matrix patterns of diffusely backscattered and forward-scattered light because glucose molecules rotate the polarization plane of linearly polarized light. For example, the angles of rotation in Mueller-matrix elements S21 and S12 are linearly related to the concentration of glucose and increase with the source-detector distance. In the nondiffusion regime, the two models agree well with each other. In the diffusion regime, the single-scattering model is invalid, but there still exists a linear relationship between the angles of rotation in the Mueller-matrix elements and the concentration of glucose, which is predicted by the Monte Carlo model.