Fast method for inverse determination of optical parameters from two measured signals

Solving inverse problems requires multiple forward calculations of measured signals. We present a fast method combining graphic processing unit-accelerated Monte Carlo simulations of individual photons and a new perturbation scheme for a 300-fold speedup in comparison to conventional CPU-based approaches. The method allows rapid calculations of the diffuse reflectance and transmittance signals from a turbid sample of absorption coefficient mu(a), scattering coefficient mu(s), and anisotropy factor g based on the principle of correlated sampling. To demonstrate its strong utility, we have applied the method for determining the optical parameters of diluted intralipid samples with satisfactory results. (c) 2013 Optical Society of America