Polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography with single input for imaging depth-resolved collagen...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Medical Imaging
• Biomaterials Science

Background:

• Collagen organization is crucial for tissue structure and function.
• Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PSOCT) is a noninvasive 3D imaging technique for mapping collagen.
• Previous PSOCT systems with single input polarization states lacked sufficient reconstruction quality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel PSOCT model and method for depth-resolved collagen imaging using a single input polarization state.
• To improve the reconstruction quality of PSOCT systems with limited polarization inputs.
• To demonstrate the visualization of depth-resolved tissue architecture and collagen structures.

Main Methods:

• Developed a PSOCT-based polarization state transmission model to track light depolarization in birefringent samples.
• Proposed a polarization state tracing method using discrete differential geometric analysis on the Poincaré sphere.
• Applied the method to ex vivo rodent hearts and in vivo human facial skin.

Main Results:

• The proposed model accurately reveals depth-dependent polarization state evolution of backscattered light.
• The polarization state tracing method enables depth-resolved birefringent imaging with a single input polarization state.
• Successfully visualized myocardial architecture in healthy and infarcted rodent hearts and skin tension lines in humans.

Conclusions:

• The developed PSOCT method and model provide high-quality, depth-resolved imaging of collagen organization.
• This technique offers a promising noninvasive tool for assessing tissue structural integrity.
• The method has potential applications in diagnostics and understanding tissue biomechanics.