Optics Letters · 1999 · 263 citations · 8 references
EngineeringBiomedical EngineeringMaterials ScienceBiomedical ImagingBiomedical OpticsBiophotonicsLight-tissue InteractionOptical CoherenceOptical Coherence TomographyOptical ImagingOptical TomographyPolarization OpticsBirefringence In TissueOptical Characterization Of Biological TissuePolarizationPolarization PropertiesPolarization Properties Of TissuePolarization-sensitive Optical Coherence TomographyPolarization-sensitive TomographyStokes Parameters
Backscattered light from turbid media can be characterized by measuring its Stokes parameters using a low‑coherence source. The study aims to demonstrate PS‑OCT’s ability to map birefringence and optical axes in fibrous tissue and skin, and to suggest its broader biomedical and material‑science uses. PS‑OCT was employed to fully characterize the polarization state of backscattered light and to measure birefringence and optical axes in fibrous tissue and skin.
Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) was used to characterize completely the polarization state of light backscattered from turbid media. Using a low-coherence light source, one can determine the Stokes parameters of backscattered light as a function of optical path in turbid media. To demonstrate the application of this technique we determined the birefringence and the optical axis in fibrous tissue (rodent muscle) and in vivo rodent skin. PS-OCT has potentially useful applications in biomedical optics by imaging simultaneously the structural properties of turbid biological materials and their effects on the polarization state of backscattered light. This method may also find applications in material science for investigation of polarization properties (e.g., birefringence) in opaque media such as ceramics and crystals.
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