Ray-wave approximation for the calculation of laser light scattering by transparent dielectric particles, mimicking red blood cells or their aggregates

A theoretical model is presented for the fast calculation of light scattering by transparent dielectric particles with sizes much larger than the wavelength. In this model, the light incident onto the particle and the light propagating inside the particle are represented by sets of rays while the scattered light is represented by a set of spherical waves emitted by different elements of the particle surface (ray-wave approximation, RWA). It is shown that RWA is comparable in precision with the discrete-dipole approximation but significantly exceeds the latter in the calculation rate for the particles with size parameters higher than 50. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.