Towards improved collagen assessment: polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography with tailored reference arm...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Medical Imaging
• Tissue Optics

Background:

• Single-channel polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) is valuable for evaluating birefringent tissue properties in clinical settings.
• Existing PS-OCT techniques have limitations in performance optimization, especially concerning paddle rotation for birefringence assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a new method for real-time birefringence assessment in PS-OCT by optimizing reference arm polarization.
• To investigate the impact of different polarization rotation patterns on birefringence evaluation.

Main Methods:

• A novel approach for real-time birefringence assessment was developed by tailoring reference arm polarization.
• Various polarization rotation patterns were analyzed using polarization filters and retarders, visualized on a Poincare sphere.
• The optimized PS-OCT method was tested on bovine cartilage and tendon tissue samples.

Main Results:

• The contrast in PS-OCT assessments was found to be sensitive to the selected polarization rotation pattern.
• The study demonstrated that the choice of rotation pattern significantly influences birefringence assessment in tissues.
• Insights into optimal polarization patterns for improved birefringence evaluation were gained.

Conclusions:

• Tailoring reference arm polarization in single-channel PS-OCT offers a promising strategy for enhanced birefringence assessment.
• The findings provide guidance for optimizing PS-OCT system design and application for improved diagnostic accuracy and precision.
• This work contributes to advancing PS-OCT capabilities for pathological assessment in diverse clinical scenarios.