Influence of Complex Refractive Index on Diffuse Reflection of Biological Tissues

Complex refractive indices are introduced to solve various boundary questions at the interfaces when modelling light migration within heterogeneous tissues. Combined with the complex refractive index, Fresnel’s formulae are used to describe the reflection and transmission at the interfaces between two heterogeneous tissues layers. Using the Monte Carlo method, the influence of the complex refractive index on diffuse reflection of semi-infinite biological tissues is discussed. The results show that neglecting the imaginary part of the refractive index of tissues will bring a major deviation in the diffuse reflection of semi-infinite biological tissues when its emitting point is apart from the incident point.