Monte Carlo study of coherent diffuse photon transport in a homogeneous turbid medium: A degree-of-coherence based approach

We employ a Monte Carlo (MC) algorithm to investigate the decoherence of diffuse photons in turbid media. For the MC simulation of coherent photons, the degree of coherence, defined as a random variable for a photon packet, is associated with a decoherence function that depends on the scattering angle and is updated as a photon interacts with a medium via scattering. Using a slab model, the effects of medium scattering properties were studied, which reveals that a linear random variable model for the degree of coherence is in better agreement with experimental results than a sinusoidal model and that decoherence is quick for the initial few scattering events followed by a slow and gradual decrease of coherence.