Simulations of a spatially resolved reflectometry signal from a highly scattering three-layer medium applied to the problem of glucose sensing in human skin

The possibility of using spatially resolved reflectometry (SRR) at a wavelength of 820 nm to detect changes in the optical properties of a highly scattering layered random medium simulating a biological tissue caused by changes in the glucose level is analysed. Model signals from a three-layer biological tissue phantom consisting of two skin layers and a blood layer located between them are obtained by the Monte-Carlo method. It was assumed that variations in the glucose level induce variations in the optical parameters of the blood layer and the bottom skin layer. To analyse the trajectories of photons forming the SRR signal, their scattering maps are obtained. The ratio of the photon path in layers sensitive to the glucose level to the total path in the medium was used as a parameter characterising these trajectories. The relative change in the reflected signal caused by a change in the glucose concentration is analysed depending on the distance between a probe radiation source and a detector. It is shown that the maximum relative change in the signal (about 7%) takes place for the source – detector separation in the range from 0.3 to 0.5 mm depending on the model parameters.