Modelling and rapid simulation of multiple red blood cell light scattering.

The goal of this work is to develop a computational framework to rapidly simulate the light scattering response of multiple red blood cells. Because the wavelength of visible light (3.8 x 10(-7) m < or = lambda < or = 7.2 x 10(-7) m) is approximately an order of magnitude smaller than the diameter of a typical red blood cell scatterer (d approximately 8 x 10(-6) m), geometric ray-tracing theory is applicable, and can be used to quickly ascertain the amount of optical energy, characterized by the Poynting vector, that is reflected and absorbed by multiple red blood cells. The overall objective is to provide a straightforward approach that can be easily implemented by researchers in the field, using standard desktop computers. Three-dimensional examples are given to illustrate the approach and the results compare quite closely to experiments on blood samples conducted at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI).