The optical properties of aqueous suspensions of Intralipid, a fat emulsion

Abstract

Intralipid is a fat emulsion which is widely used as the basis of phantom materials for the investigation of the optical properties of tissues, a subject of recent increased interest due to a growth in the use of photodynamic therapy as a treatment of cancer. In the course of the present study it was noted that the effective attenuation coefficient and therefore the light penetration depth of an Intralipid suspension was not directly proportional to the concentration. The added absorber method was used to determine the absorption and reduced scattering coefficients of Intralipid for any concentration in aqueous solution. The results show that most of the absorption is due to the suspending medium, water.