Note: A simple broad bandwidth undersampling frequency-domain digital diffuse optical spectroscopy system.

Near-Infrared frequency-domain technologies, such as Diffuse Optical Spectroscopy (DOS), have demonstrated growing potential in a number of clinical applications. The broader dissemination of this technology is limited by the complexity and cost of instrumentation. We present here a simple system constructed with off-the-shelf components that utilizes undersampling for digital frequency-domain dDOS measurements. Broadband RF sweeps (50-300 MHz) were digitally sampled at 25 MSPS; amplitude, phase, and optical property extractions were within 5% of network analyzer derived values. The use of undersampling for broad bandwidth dDOS provides a significant reduction in complexity, power consumption, and cost compared with high-speed ADCs and analog techniques.