Imaging a full set of optical scattering properties of biological tissue by inverse spectroscopic optical coherence tomography.

We here develop a method to measure and image the full optical scattering properties by inverse spectroscopic optical coherence tomography (ISOCT). Tissue is modelled as a medium with continuous refractive index (RI) fluctuation and such a fluctuation is described by the RI correlation functions. Under the first-order Born approximation, the forward model is established for ISOCT. By measuring optical quantities of tissue including the scattering power of the OCT spectrum, the reflection albedo α defined as the ratio of scattering coefficient μ(s), and the backscattering coefficient μ(b), we are able to inversely deduce the RI correlation function and image the full set of optical scattering properties.