Experimental validation of a recently developed model for single-fiber reflectance spectroscopy.

SIGNIFICANCE We recently developed a model for the reflectance measured with (multi-diameter) single-fiber reflectance (SFR) spectroscopy as a function of the reduced scattering coefficient μs', the absorption coefficient μa, and the phase function parameter psb. We validated this model with simulations. AIM We validate our model experimentally. To prevent overfitting, we investigate the wavelength-dependence of psb and propose a parametrization with only three parameters. We also investigate whether this parametrization enables measurements with a single fiber, as opposed to multiple fibers used in multi-diameter SFR (MDSFR). APPROACH We validate our model on 16 phantoms with two concentrations of Intralipid-20% (μs'=13 and 21  cm  -  1 at 500 nm) and eight concentrations of Evans Blue (μa  =  1 to 20  cm  -  1 at 605 nm). We parametrize psb as 10  -  5  ·    (  p1  (  λ  /  650  )    +  p2(λ/650)2  +  p3(λ/650)3  )  . RESULTS Average errors were 7% for μs', 11% for μa, and 16% with the parametrization of psb; and 7%, 17%, and 16%, respectively, without. The parametrization of psb improved the fit speed 25 times (94 s to <4  s). Average errors for only one fiber were 50%, 33%, and 186%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Our recently developed model provides accurate results for MDSFR measurements but not for a single fiber. The psb parametrization prevents overfitting and speeds up the fit.