Optical characterization of murine model's in-vivo skin using Mueller matrix polarimetric imaging

摘要

Mueller matrix polarimetric imaging (MMPI) provides a complete characterization of an anisotropic optical medium. Subsequent single value decomposition allows image interpretation in terms of basic optical anisotropies, such as depolarization, diattenuation, and retardance. In this work, healthy in-vivo skin at different anatomical locations of a biological model {Rattus norvegicus) was imaged by the MMPI technique using 532nm coherent illumination. The body parts under study were back, abdomen, tail, and calvaria. Because skin components are randomly distributed and skin thickness depends on its location, polarization measures arise from the average over a single detection element (pixel) and on the number of free optical paths, respectively. Optical anisotropies over the imaged skin indicates, mainly, the presence of components related to the physiology of the explored region. In addition, a MMPI-based comparison between a tumor on the back of one test subject and proximal healthy skin was made. The results show that the single values of optical anisotropies can be helpful in distinguishing different areas of in-vivo skin and also lesions.