Light scattering from nanoparticles can allow the detection of polymer gel absorption into tissue. Here, we show how light scattering from nanoparticles is represented as a function of the heat losses, refractive index and relative permittivity of the nanoparticles. The nanoparticle models were designed to mimic as closely as possible the real structure observed experimentally. This paper demonstrates the calculation of the scattering of a plane wave of light from nanoparticles of different shapes. The nanoparticle models were constructed from common shapes such as block, cylinder, ellipsoid, pyramid, sphere and star. The nano-star particles were constructed from a 10-nm spherical core surrounded by a series of 21 conical spikes (bottom radius of 20/3tan( \(\uppi \) /9) nm, height of 20/3 and top radius of 0.5 nm). The nano-block (20 × 20 × 10 nm), nano-cylinder (diameter of 10 nm and height of 10 nm), nano-ellipsoid (10 × 10/ \(\sqrt {\mathbf{2}}\)  × 10 \(\sqrt {\mathbf{2}}\) nm), nano-pyramid (20 × 20 × 5 \(\uppi \) nm) and nano-sphere (radius of 10 nm) particles were modelled. Similarly, a plane wave of light scattered off nanoparticles with perfect electrical conductor (PEC) and perfect magnetic conductor (PMC) boundary conditions is illuminated. The light scattering is calculated for the optical frequency range from 400 nm to 700 nm, where the biomaterial can be modelled as a material with negative complex valued permittivity. The heat losses also show that the particle preferentially absorbs the shorter wavelengths. This paper demonstrates the calculation of the scattering of a plane wave of light from nanoparticles of different shapes. Compared to platinum and silver particles, gold nanoparticles show the best sensitivity of the heat losses and refractive index. The scattering is calculated for the optical frequency range of 400 nm to 700 nm which the biomaterial can be modelled as a material with negative complex-valued permittivity.