Role of short-pulse laser for detection and differentiation of cancer stages and benign lesion within human skin

Abstract

The present study pertains to theoretical evaluation of various skin lesions using reflectance mode short-pulse (SP) laser technique, which has been assumed to be operating within the therapeutic optical window of 600-1300 nm. The skin and lesions have been modeled based on anatomic details and optical properties available in the literature. Whereas, the different lesion stages have been modeled according to the American Joint Committee for Cancer Staging guidelines. The numerical simulation of transient radiative transfer equation has been carried out with the aid of finite volume method (used for resolving angular and spatial distributions) and backward differencing formula (used for time discretization). The anisotropic scattering of diffuse light due to the attenuation of incident laser light has been demonstrated using Henyey-Greenstein scattering phase function. The numerical analysis revealed that the associated changes in reflected radiative signatures due to the change in tissue properties (i.e. for different form of skin lesions) and conditions (i.e., growth features) can be a means to detect and differentiate the skin cancer.