Abstract
Quantitative evaluation of optical coefficients of brain tissue such as the absorption coefficient and the
reduced scattering coefficient is important for application of light in clinical diagnosis, surgery, and
therapeutic procedures for brain diseases. We have investigated a method to estimate the optical
coefficients of in vivo brain tissue based on the spectral diffuse reflectance images deduced from a digital
red-green-blue image by the Wiener estimation method. A Monte Carlo simulation-based multiple
regression analysis for the corresponding spectral absorbance images at nine wavelengths (500, 520,
540, 560, 570, 580, 600, 730, and 760 nm) was used to specify the absorption and scattering parameters
of brain tissue. The changes in the estimated absorption and scattering parameters during normoxia,
hyperoxia, anoxia, and cortical spreading depression indicate the potential applicability of the method by
which to evaluate the pathophysiological conditions of in vivo brain.
