ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we present an overview of re¦ectance spectroscopy (RS), a technique which examines light that has undergone a combination of elastic scattering and absorption. ™e re¦ectance signal measured from epithelial tissue is determined by the structural and biochemical properties of the tissue; therefore, analyzing changes in optical properties can be used to noninvasively probe the tissue microenvironment. ™e ›rst part of this chapter describes the physics, instrumentation, and modeling of the scattering and absorption processes. In the latter part of the chapter, we discuss the use of this technique in two areas: tissue diagnostics and tissue therapeutics.
