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First page or project page of “Monte Carlo simulation of the effect of melanin concentration on light-tissue interactions in transmittance and reflectance finger photoplethysmography” (opens in a new tab)

Paperdoi:10.1038/s41598-024-58435-7

Monte Carlo simulation of the effect of melanin concentration on light-tissue interactions in transmittance and reflectance finger photoplethysmography

Venue listed2024Added Nov 5, 2026

Authors: Raghda Al-Halawani, Meha Qassem, Panicos A. Kyriacou

Scientific Reports

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CC BY 4.0
First page or project page of “Monte Carlo simulation of the effect of melanin concentration on light-tissue interactions in transmittance and reflectance finger photoplethysmography” (opens in a new tab)

Raghda Al-Halawani et al., "Monte Carlo simulation of the effect of melanin concentration on light-tissue interactions in transmittance and reflectance finger photoplethysmography", doi:10.1038/s41598-024-58435-7, CC BY 4.0

TL;DR

Photoplethysmography (PPG) uses light to detect volumetric changes in blood, and is integrated into many healthcare devices to monitor various physiological measurements. However, an unresolved limitation of PPG is the effect of skin pigmentation on the signal and its impact on PPG based applications such as pulse oximetry. Hence, an in-silico model of the human finger was developed using the Monte Carlo (MC) technique to simulate light interactions with different melanin concentrations in a human finger, as it is the primary determinant of skin pigmentation.

Abstract

Photoplethysmography (PPG) uses light to detect volumetric changes in blood, and is integrated into many healthcare devices to monitor various physiological measurements. However, an unresolved limitation of PPG is the effect of skin pigmentation on the signal and its impact on PPG based applications such as pulse oximetry. Hence, an in-silico model of the human finger was developed using the Monte Carlo (MC) technique to simulate light interactions with different melanin concentrations in a human finger, as it is the primary determinant of skin pigmentation. The AC/DC ratio in reflectance PPG mode was evaluated at source-detector separations of 1 mm and 3 mm as the convergence rate (Q), a parameter that quantifies the accuracy of the simulation, exceeded a threshold of 0.001. At a source-detector separation of 3 mm, the AC/DC ratio of light skin was 0.472 times more than moderate skin and 6.39 than dark skin at 660 nm, and 0.114 and 0.141 respectively at 940 nm. These findings are significant for the development of PPG-based sensors given the ongoing concerns regarding the impact of skin pigmentation on healthcare devices.

Verbatim from the publisher's DOI record (opens in a new tab) · Publisher licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

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Tasks & signals

Signals

PPG

Keywords

Kyriacou BibliographyOptical Modelling Phantoms

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How Method works: Setup → Method → TargetSetup: Signals (PPG). Method: Method.SetupSignals: PPGSignalsPPGMethodMethod

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Al-Halawani, R., Qassem, M., & Kyriacou, P. A. (2024). Monte Carlo simulation of the effect of melanin concentration on light-tissue interactions in transmittance and reflectance finger photoplethysmography. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58435-7
Al-Halawani, Raghda, Meha Qassem, and Panicos A. Kyriacou. 2024. "Monte Carlo simulation of the effect of melanin concentration on light-tissue interactions in transmittance and reflectance finger photoplethysmography." Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58435-7.
Al-Halawani, R., Qassem, M. and Kyriacou, P. A. (2024) 'Monte Carlo simulation of the effect of melanin concentration on light-tissue interactions in transmittance and reflectance finger photoplethysmography', Scientific Reports. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-58435-7.
Al-Halawani, Raghda, et al. "Monte Carlo simulation of the effect of melanin concentration on light-tissue interactions in transmittance and reflectance finger photoplethysmography." Scientific Reports, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58435-7.
R. Al-Halawani, M. Qassem, and P. A. Kyriacou, "Monte Carlo simulation of the effect of melanin concentration on light-tissue interactions in transmittance and reflectance finger photoplethysmography," Scientific Reports, 2024, doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-58435-7.
@article{alhalawani2024monte,
  title         = {{Monte Carlo simulation of the effect of melanin concentration on light-tissue interactions in transmittance and reflectance finger photoplethysmography}},
  author        = {Al-Halawani, Raghda and Qassem, Meha and Kyriacou, Panicos A.},
  year          = {2024},
  journal       = {Scientific Reports},
  doi           = {10.1038/s41598-024-58435-7}
}

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