Title :
Polarization effects in optical coherence tomography of various biological tissues
Author :
De Boer, Johannes F. ; Srinivas, Shyam M. ; Park, B. Hyle ; Pham, Tuan H. ; Chen, Zhongping ; Milner, Thomas E. ; Nelson, J. Stuart
Author_Institution :
Becker Laser Inst. & Med. Clinic, California Univ., Irvine, CA, USA
Abstract :
Polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) was used to obtain spatially resolved ex vivo images of polarization changes in skeletal muscle, bone, skin and brain. Through coherent detection of two orthogonal polarization states of the signal formed by interference of light reflected from the biological sample and a mirror in the reference arm of a Michelson interferometer, the depth resolved change in polarization was measured. Inasmuch as any fibrous structure will influence the polarization of light, PS-OCT is a potentially powerful technique investigating tissue structural properties. In addition, the effects of single polarization state detection on OCT image formation is demonstrated
Keywords :
bio-optics; biological tissues; biomedical imaging; bone; brain; light coherence; light polarisation; muscle; optical tomography; skin; Michelson interferometer; biological sample; birefringence; medical diagnostic imaging; optical coherence tomography; orthogonal polarization states; polarization effects; reflected light; single polarization state detection; skeletal muscle; tissue structural properties; Biomedical optical imaging; Coherence; Image resolution; Muscles; Optical interferometry; Optical polarization; Optical sensors; Signal resolution; Spatial resolution; Tomography;
Journal_Title :
Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/2944.796347
