Thermal damage quantification utilizing tissue birefringence color image analysis

Decreased connective tissue or cardiac muscle birefringence in transmission polarizing microscopy is an observable measure of damaged tissue concentration. Accordingly, histologic monochrome images of thermally damaged tissue exhibiting decreased birefringence provide important information about the tissue thermal history. Thus, a damage quantification algorithm based on monochrome tissue images exhibiting decreased birefringence has been developed providing tissue damage values corresponding to estimated temperature distributions. In addition, utilizing 24-bit true color tissue images, epicardial birefringence color variations resulting from thermal exposures may also be observed. Therefore, image segmentation methods are used on the red, green, and blue color image components to isolate the epicardium, similarly allowing damage quantification on this tissue constituent.