Advances in vectorial polarization-resolved imaging are bringing new capabilities to applications ranging from fundamental physics through to clinical diagnosis. Imaging polarimetry requires determination of the Mueller matrix (MM) at every point, providing a complete description of an object’s vectorial properties. Despite forming a comprehensive representation, the MM does not usually provide easily interpretable information about the object’s internal structure. Certain simpler vectorial metrics are derived from subsets of the MM elements. These metrics permit extraction of signatures that provide direct indicators of hidden optical properties of complex systems, while featuring an intriguing asymmetry about what information can or cannot be inferred via these metrics. We harness such characteristics to reveal the spin Hall effect of light, infer microscopic structure within laser-written photonic waveguides, and conduct rapid pathological diagnosis through analysis of healthy and cancerous tissue. This provides new insight for the broader usage of such asymmetric inferred vectorial information.
Graded index (GRIN) lenses focus light through a radially symmetric refractive index profile. It is not widely appreciated that the ion-exchange process that creates the index profile also causes a radially symmetric birefringence variation. This property is usually considered a nuisance, such that manufacturing processes are optimized to keep it to a minimum. Here, a new Mueller matrix (MM) polarimeter based on a spatially engineered polarization state generating array and GRIN lens cascade for measuring the MM of a region of a sample in a single-shot is presented. We explore using the GRIN lens cascade for a functional analyzer to calculate multiple Stokes vectors and the MM of the target in a snapshot. A designed validation sample is used to test the reliability of this polarimeter. To understand more potential biomedical applications, human breast ductal carcinoma slides at two pathological progression stages are detected by this polarimeter. The MM polar decomposition parameters then can be calculated from the measured MMs, and quantitatively compared with the equivalent data sampled by a MM microscope. The results indicate that the polarimeter and the measured polarization parameters are capable of differentiating the healthy and carcinoma status of human breast tissue efficiently. It has potential to act as a polarization detected fiber-based probe to assist further minimally invasive clinical diagnosis.
A polarization microscope is a useful tool to reveal the optical anisotropic nature of a specimen and can provide abundant microstructural information about samples. We present a division of focal plane (DoFP) polarimeter-based polarization microscope capable of simultaneously measuring both the Stokes vector and the 3×4 Mueller matrix with an optimal polarization illumination scheme. The Mueller matrix images of unstained human carcinoma tissue slices show that the m24 and m34 elements can provide important information for pathological observations. The characteristic features of the m24 and m34 elements can be enhanced by polarization staining under illumination by a circularly polarized light. Hence, combined with a graphics processing unit acceleration algorithm, the DoFP polarization microscope is capable of real-time polarization imaging for potential quick clinical diagnoses of both standard and frozen slices of human carcinoma tissues.
Today the increasing cancer incidence rate is becoming one of the biggest threats to human health. Among all types of cancers, liver cancer ranks in the top five in both frequency and mortality rate all over the world. During the development of liver cancer, fibrosis often evolves as part of a healing process in response to liver damage, resulting in cirrhosis of liver tissues. In a previous study, we applied the Mueller matrix microscope to pathological liver tissue samples and found that both the Mueller matrix polar decomposition (MMPD) and Mueller matrix transformation (MMT) parameters are closely related to the fibrous microstructures. In this paper, we take this one step further to quantitatively facilitate the fibrosis detections and scorings of pathological liver tissue samples in different stages from cirrhosis to cancer using the Mueller matrix microscope. The experimental results of MMPD and MMT parameters for the fibrotic liver tissue samples in different stages are measured and analyzed. We also conduct Monte Carlo simulations based on the sphere birefringence model to examine in detail the influence of structural changes in different fibrosis stages on the imaging parameters. Both the experimental and simulated results indicate that the polarized light microscope and transformed Mueller matrix parameters can provide additional quantitative information helpful for fibrosis detections and scorings of liver cirrhosis and cancers. Therefore, the polarized light microscope and transformed Mueller matrix parameters have a good application prospect in liver cancer diagnosis.
We develop a modulus Mueller matrix microscope by adding polarization state generator and analyzer (PSG and PSA) to a commercial transmission optical microscope. The microscope is calibrated to minimize errors of the Mueller matrix elements to 0.01. Preliminary experimental results on biological tissues and different materials and Monte Carlo simulations show that the microscope can provide quantitative information on the characteristic microstructural features of complex samples, which make it a potentially powerful tool in clinical diagnosis and material studies.
Polarization microscope is a useful technique to observe the optical anisotropic nature of biomedical specimens and provide more microstructural information than the conventional microscope. In this paper, we present a division of focal plane (DoFP) polarimeter based polarization microscope which is capable of imaging both the Stokes vector and the 3×4 Mueller matrix. The Mueller matrix measurement can help us completely understand the polarization properties of the sample and the Stokes vector measurement is a simultaneous technology. First, we calibrate a DoFP polarimeter using the polarization data reduction method for accurate Stokes vector measurements. Second, as the Stokes vector computation for all pixels using the calibrated instrument matrix is usually time consuming, we develop a GPU acceleration algorithm for real time Stokes vector calculations. Third, based on the accurate and fast Stokes vector calculation, we present an optimal 4-states of polarization (4-SoP) illumination scheme for Mueller matrix measurement using the DoFP polarimeter. Finally, we demonstrate the biomedical applications of the DoFP polarimeter based polarization microscope. Experiment results show that the characteristic features of many biomedical samples can be observed in the “polarization staining” images using the circularly polarized light as illumination. In this way, combined with GPU acceleration algorithm, the DoFP polarization microscope has the capacity for real time polarization monitoring of dynamic processes in biological samples.
KEYWORDS: Mueller matrices, Biomedical optics, Polarization, Scattering, Monte Carlo methods, Tissues, Optical properties, Cancer, Backscatter, Birefringence, Liver, In vivo imaging
Polarization images contain abundant microstructural information of samples. Recently, as a comprehensive description of the structural and optical properties of complex media, the Mueller matrix imaging has been widely applied to biomedical studies, especially cancer detections. In previous works, we proposed a technique to transform the backscattering 3 × 3 Mueller matrices into a group of quantitative parameters with clear relationships to specific microstructures. In this paper, we extend this transformation method to full 4 × 4 Mueller matrices of both the back and forward scattering directions. Using the experimental results of phantoms and Monte Carlo simulation based on the sphere-cylinder birefringence model, we fit the Mueller matrix elements to trigonometric curves in polar coordinates and obtain a new set of transformation parameters, which can be expressed as analytical functions of 16 Mueller matrix elements. Both the experimental and simulated results demonstrate that the transformation parameters have simple relationships to the characteristic microstructural properties, including the densities and orientations of fibrous structures, the sizes of the scatterers, and the depolarization power of the samples. We also apply the transformation parameters of full 4 × 4 Mueller matrices to human liver cancerous tissues. Preliminary imaging results show that the parameters can quantitatively reflect the formation of fibrous birefringent tissues accompanying the cancerous processes. The findings presented in this study can be useful for in vivo or in vitro polarization imaging of tissues for diagnostic applications.
Polarization imaging techniques are recognized as potentially powerful tools to detect the structural changes of biological tissues. Meanwhile, spectral features of the scattered light can also provide abundant microstructural information, therefore can be applied in biomedical studies. In this paper, we adopt the polarization reflectance spectral imaging to analyze the microstructural changes of hydrolyzing skeletal muscle tissues. We measure the Mueller matrix, which is a comprehensive description of the polarization properties, of the bovine skeletal muscle samples in different periods of time, and analyze its behavior using the multispectral Mueller matrix transformation (MMT) technique. The experimental results show that for bovine skeletal muscle tissues, the backscattered spectral MMT parameters have different values and variation features at different stages. We can also find the experimental results indicate that the stages of hydrolysis for bovine skeletal muscle samples can be judged by the spectral MMT parameters. The results presented in this work show that combining with the spectral technique, the MMT parameters have the potential to be used as tools for meat quality detection and monitoring.
We present a new way to extract characteristic features of the Mueller matrix images based on their frequency distributions and the central moments. We take the backscattering Mueller matrices of tissues with distinctive microstructures, and then analyze the frequency distribution histograms (FDHs) of all the matrix elements. For anisotropic skeletal muscle and isotropic liver tissues, we find that the shapes of the FDHs and their central moment parameters, i.e., variance, skewness, and kurtosis, are not sensitive to the sample orientation. Comparisons among different tissues further indicate that the frequency distributions of Mueller matrix elements and their corresponding central moments can be used as indicators for the characteristic microstructural features of tissues. A preliminary application to human cervical cancerous tissues shows that the distribution curves and central moment parameters may have the potential to give quantitative criteria for cancerous tissues detections.
When measuring the Mueller matrix images of a sample with a GRIN lens, many Mueller matrix elements will be seriously
distorted by the intrinsic birefringence of the GRIN lens. Imaging polarimeter measurements of GRIN lenses showed
radially symmetric phase retardance polarization. We simulated the Mueller matrices of the GRIN lens with light of
different incident angles, removed the polarization artifacts with the simulated results and recovered the polarization
features of the sample. The results demonstrate the possibility of performing Mueller matrix measurements using
endoscopes or other optical instruments with strong birefringence.
We obtained backscattering Mueller matrix images on a cancerous tissue sample through a gradient-index (GRIN) lens and observed strong distortion in all the Mueller matrix elements. By measuring the intrinsic polarization properties of the GRIN lens, which is dominated by birefringence following a radial profile, and applying a matrix inversion method to the distorted Mueller matrix, we are able to remove the artifacts because of the birefringent GRIN lens and recover the polarization features of the sample. The results demonstrate the feasibility to take Mueller matrix measurements using GRIN lenses or other optical components with strong birefringence.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.