Structured light imaging mesoscopy: detection of embedded morphological changes in superficial tissues.

Significance: Current paradigms for the optical characterization of layered tissues involve explicit consideration of an inverse problem which is often ill-posed and whose resolution may retain significant uncertainty. Here, we present an alternative approach, structured light imaging mesoscopy (SLIM), that leverages the inherent sensitivity of raw spatial frequency domain (SFD) reflectance measurements for the detection of embedded subsurface scattering changes in tissue. Aim: We identify wavelength-spatial frequency ( Approach: We used Monte Carlo simulations in a four-layer skin model to analyze the SFD reflectance changes resulting from changes in superficial dermal scattering across wavelength ( Results: Monte Carlo simulations revealed that scattering changes within the superficial dermis produce SFD reflectance changes which are maximized at specific ( Conclusions: The findings establish the SLIM methodology as a means to detect morphological changes in an embedded subsurface tissue layer by leveraging inherent sensitivities of spatial frequency domain reflectance. This approach promises to enable simplified clinical tracking of subsurface microstructural alterations without the explicit need to consider an inverse problem approach.