Relation between fluence rate and mean photons pathlengths: an alternative option for Monte Carlo-based calculations of fluence

Usually, in biomedical optics, the average photon fluence rate, evaluated in a subvolume of a propagating medium, is obtained by Monte Carlo simulations by calculating the power deposited by photons absorbed in the subvolume. We propose an alternative method based on evaluating the average path length traveled by all photons injected within the subvolume. Application examples are given. This method also works for a zero absorption coefficient and for a nonconstant spatial distribution of the absorption coefficient within the subvolume. The proposed approach is a re-visitation of a well-known method applied to nuclear and radiation physics. The results obtained show that a potential advantage of the proposed method is that it can improve the convergence of Monte Carlo simulations. Indeed, when calculating the fluence in a region of interest with the proposed method, all photons passing through the region are considered. Whereas with the traditional approach, only absorbed" photons are considered. In the latter case, this can produce a poorer Monte Carlo statistic for the same number of photons launched.