The ability to register and analyze the spatial distribution of light scattered within the full solid angle is the basis for the development and improvement of information-measuring systems and software and hardware complexes for problems of optical biomedical diagnostics. The greatest contribution to light scattering at non-invasive methods of biomedical research are made by the layers of human skin, affecting the depth of probing and the resolution of diagnostic systems. The significant individual variability of the optical properties of biological tissues does not allow practically (clinically) assessing their effect on the light scattering characteristics; therefore, the use of methods for modeling the optical radiation propagation in media in the measuring tools functioning context makes it possible to provide such a prognostic analysis. The goal of this work is a comparative evaluation of the results of the light propagation in human skin layers by Monte Carlo simulation using information-measuring systems of a biomedical photometer with ellipsoidal reflectors and a goniophotometer. The Monte Carlo simulation results of light scattering in dermis and epidermis at a wavelength of 632.8 nm using spatial photometry methods and the "BT_Mod" software, as well as coordinates, direction, and statistical weight of photons, allows the ray-tracing in a biomedical photometer with ellipsoidal reflectors are presented in this work. As a result of modeling, graphs of the dependence of optical coefficients (transmission T, diffuse reflection Rd, and absorption A) for the studied tissues of various thicknesses on the value of the scattering anisotropy factor were obtained, as well as photometric images of the second focal plane of ellipsoidal reflectors when receiving a scattering spot in reflected and transmitted light. Diagrams of the averaged scattering indicatrix at three thicknesses of the epidermis and dermis were obtained for a set of biophysically significant values of the scattering anisotropy factor, based on which the integral distribution of the photons statistical weight in diffuse scattered light was analyzed. A quantitative assessment of the illuminance level of images is carried out according to the zone analysis principles in photometry by ellipsoidal reflectors. The resulting graphs of the illuminance dependence the external and middle rings of photometric images in reflected and transmitted light. The results of the research make it possible to analyze the spatial distribution of light scattered by the human skin layers (epidermis and dermis) within the full solid angle, which can be used in problems of optical dosimetry and medical imaging in diagnostic, endoscopic, and therapeutic methods of biophotonics.

Biomedical photometersʼ information-measuring systems with ellipsoidal reflectors have acceptable results in determining of biological tissues optical properties in the visible and near-infrared spectral range. These photometers make it possible to study the optical radiation propagation in turbid media for direct and inverse problems of light-scattering optics. The purpose of this work is to study the influence of the ellipsoidal reflectors design parameters on the results of biomedical photometry when simulating the optical radiation propagation in a system of biological tissue and reflectors in transmitted and reflected light.The paper substantiates the choice of the ellipsoidal reflectors’ focal parameter for efficient registration of forward and backscattered light. The methodology of the process is illustrated by the results of a model experiment using the Monte Carlo simulation for samples of human brain white and gray matter at the visible range of 405 nm, 532 nm, and 650 nm. The total transmittance, diffuse reflectance, and absorption graphs depending on the sample thickness were obtained. Based on the introduced concepts of the ellipsoidal reflector efficiency index and its efficiency factor, the expediency of choosing the ellipsoidal reflectors focal parameter is analyzed to ensure the registration of the maximum amount of scattered light. The graphs of efficiency index in reflected and transmitted light for different thickness samples of white and gray matter and efficiency factors depending on the sample thickness were obtained.The influence of the reflectors ellipticity on the illuminance of various zones of photometric images using the example of an absorbing biological medium – pig liver tissue – at wavelength of 405 nm with a Monte Carlo simulation was analyzed.The optical properties of biological media (scattering and absorption coefficients, scattering anisotropy factor, refractive index) and the samples’ geometric dimensions, particularly the thickness, are predetermined when choosing the ellipsoidal reflectors parameters for registration of the scattered light. Coordinates of the output of photons and their statistical weight obtained in the Monte Carlo simulation of light propagation in biological tissue have a physical effect on a characteristic scattering spot formation in the receiving plane of a biomedical photometer with ellipsoidal reflectors.