Optimal beam size for light delivery to absorption-enhanced tumors buried in biological tissues and effect of multiple-beam delivery: A Monte Carlo study

Optimal laser light delivery into turbid biological tissues was studied by using Monte Carlo simulations based on the delta-scattering technique. The goal was to deliver efficiently the maximum amount of optical power into buried tumors being treated while avoiding potential damage to normal tissue caused by strong optical power deposition underneath the tissue surface illuminated by the laser beam. The buried tumors were considered to have much higher absorption than the surrounding normal tissue because of selective uptake of the absorption-enhancement dye. The power delivering efficiency to buried tumors was investigated for various diameters of the laser beam. An optimal beam diameter was estimated to achieve the maximum product of the power coupling efficiency and the power delivered to the buried tumor. The distribution of power deposition was simulated for single-beam delivery and The simulated results showed that with an appropriate dye enhancement and an optimal laser delivery configuration, a high selectivity for laser treatment of tumor could be achieved. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.