Coupled Poroviscoelastic and Optical Monte Carlo Simulation of Dynamic Light Transport Through Indented Soft Tissue

Biological tissues are heterogeneous materials that may be considered mixtures of water, proteins, and cells. The large mismatch in refractive index between these constituents causes tissues to be highly turbid, diffusing light and limiting the efficacy of optical diagnostic and therapeutic techniques [1]. Mechanical optical clearing is a technique for reducing tissue scattering and absorption using controlled tissue deformation. Mechanical optical clearing is performed using indentation to locally modify tissue optical properties, including refractive index [2] and reduced scattering coefficient [3]. This effect is attributed to transient changes in tissue water distribution as a result of interstitial fluid flow due to tissue compression. In this study, we have developed a multi-domain mathematical framework for simulating mechanical optical clearing effects on tissue mechanical and optical behavior, including hyperelasticity, viscoelasticity, porous flow, and light transport. This model was then fitted to mechanical force data and used to predict experimentally measured optical transmission.