Use of a coherent fiber bundle for multi-diameter single fiber reflectance spectroscopy

Multi-diameter single fiber reflectance (MDSFR) spectroscopy enables quantitative measurement of tissue optical properties, including the reduced scattering coefficient and the phase function parameter γ. However, the accuracy and speed of the procedure are currently limited by the need for co-localized measurements using multiple fiber optic probes with different fiber diameters. We here demonstrate the use of a coherent fiber bundle acting as a single fiber with a variable diameter for the purposes of MDSFR spectroscopy. We have previously shown that the spectral reflectance and effective path lengths measured by the fiber bundles are equivalent to those measured by single solid-core fibers for fiber diameters between 0.4 and 1.0 mm (r ≥ 0.997). Based on these results, the coherent fiber bundle was deemed suitable for use as a variable-diameter fiber in clinical MDSFR quantification of tissue optical properties. In this paper we discuss the details of the setup, the limitations of the current experimental design as well as future improvements of the setup.

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