Model for elastic light scattering from nucleated cells

A model is presented to calculate the light scattering properties of nucleated cells which are mimiced by two concentric ellipsoids (CEM). The light-scattering characteristics are explored, deriving from the Rayleigh-Debye-Gans approximation and by simultaneous application of field averaging of the internal field and modification of the propagation constant inside the different cellular compartments. It is shown that the CEM is superior to the ball model. CEM can reflect the true configuration of the nonspherical nucleated cells more accurately. In addition, the simultaneous detection of the light-scattering intensities in the forward-, lateral-, and back-scattering directions can help distinguish the different cell types in heterogeneous population of nucleated cells, so it can be well used in cell classification and research of cell transfiguration.