Elliptically polarized light for depth resolved optical imaging

Biomed Opt Express. 2012 Nov 1;3(11):2907-15. doi: 10.1364/BOE.3.002907. Epub 2012 Oct 23.

Abstract

It is shown that using elliptically polarized light permits selecting well-defined subsurface volumes in a turbid medium. This suggests the possibility of probing biological tissues at specific depths. First, we present the method and preliminary results obtained on an Intralipid phantom. We next report on the method's performance on a biological phantom (chicken breast) and, finally, on the exposed cortex of an anesthetized rat.

Keywords: (110.5405) Polarimetric imaging; (170.3660) Light propagation in tissues; (170.3880) Medical and biological imaging; (170.7050) Turbid media.