Registration scheme suitable to Mueller matrix imaging for biomedical applications

Most Mueller matrix imaging polarimeters implement sequential acquisition of at least 16 raw images of the same object with different incident and detected light polarizations. When this technique is implemented in vivo, the unavoidable motions of the subject may shift and distort the raw images to an extent such that the final Mueller images cannot be extracted. We describe a registration algorithm which solves this problem for the typical conditions of in vivo imaging, e.g. with spatially inhomogeneous medium to strong depolarization. The algorithm, based on the so called "optical flow," is validated experimentally by comparing the Mueller images of a pig skin sample taken in static and in dynamic conditions.