Depth-resolved two-dimensional Stokes vectors of backscattered light and Mueller matrices of biological tissue measured with optical coherence tomography

Abstract

Mueller matrices provide a complete characterization of the opticalpolarization properties of biological tissue. Apolarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (OCT) systemwas built and used to investigate the optical polarization propertiesof biological tissues and other turbid media. The apparent degreeof polarization (DOP) of the backscattered light was measured withboth liquid and solid scattering samples. The DOP maintains thevalue of unity within the detectable depth for the solid sample,whereas the DOP decreases with the optical depth for the liquidsample. Two-dimensional depth-resolved images of both the Stokesvectors of the backscattered light and the full Mueller matrices ofbiological tissue were measured with this system. Thesepolarization measurements revealed some tissue structures that are notperceptible with standard OCT.