A new, high-speed, fiber-based Mueller-matrix optical coherence tomography
system with continuous source-polarization modulation is presented. For in vivo
experimentation, the sample arm optics are integrated into a hand-held probe. The
system’s parameters were verified through imaging standard optical elements. A unique
feature of polarization-sensitive Mueller optical coherence tomography is that by
measuring Jones or Mueller matrices, it can reveal the complete polarization properties
of biological samples, even in the presence of diattenuation. Presented here for the first
time are mapped local polarization properties of biological samples obtained by using
polar decomposition in combination with least-squares fitting to differentiate measured
integrated Jones matrices with respect to depth. In addition, a new concept of dual
attenuation coefficients to characterize diattenuation per unit infinitesimal length in
tissues is introduced. The algorithm was experimentally verified using measurements of
a section of porcine tendon and the septum of a rat heart. The application of the system for burn imaging and healing monitoring was
demonstrated on porcine skin because of its similarity to the human skin. The results
showed a clear localization of the thermally damaged region. The local birefringence of
the intravital porcine skin was mapped by using a differentiation algorithm. The burn
areas in the OCT images agree well with the histology, thus demonstrating the system’s
potential for burn-depth determination and post-injury healing monitoring.
Another major application of the fiber-based Mueller-matrix optical coherence
tomography system with continuous source-polarization modulation covered here is in
vivo imaging of early stages of skin cancer. The OCT images of SENCAR mice skin
affected by the tumorigenesis show the structural changes in skin resulting from precancerous
papilloma formations that are consistent with histology, which proves the
system’s potential for early skin cancer detection.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2888 |
| Date | 15 May 2009 |
| Creators | Todorovic, Milos |
| Contributors | Cote, Gerard L., Wang, Lihong V. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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