Polarized fluorescence spectroscopy of human tissues

We report the results of a study carried out to investigate the effect of blood absorption on polarized and unpolarized fluorescence from resected tissue samples and tissue phantoms. The signatures of blood absorption were found to be significantly smaller in polarized fluorescence than in unpolarized fluorescence spectra. The reduced effect of blood absorption on polarized fluorescence also leads to reduced site-to-site variability in polarized fluorescence intensity and line shape compared with unpolarized fluorescence.