Polarization-sensitive imaging with simultaneous bright- and dark-field optical coherence tomography

Opt Lett. 2019 Aug 15;44(16):4040-4043. doi: 10.1364/OL.44.004040.

Abstract

We present a polarization-sensitive (PS) extension for bright- and dark-field (BRAD) optical coherence tomography imaging. Using a few-mode fiber detection scheme, the light backscattered at different angles is separated, and the BRAD images of tissue scattering are generated. A calibration method to correct for the fiber birefringence is proposed. Since particle scattering profiles are polarization dependent, a PS detection extends the capabilities for investigating the scattering properties of biological tissues. Both phantoms consisting of different-sized microparticles and a brain tissue specimen were imaged to validate the system performance and demonstrate the complementary image contrast.