Mueller matrix polarimetry is a powerful tool for detecting microscopic structures, therefore can be used to monitor physiological changes of tissue samples. Meanwhile, spectral features of scattered light can also provide abundant microstructural information of tissues. In this paper, we take the 2D multispectral backscattering Mueller matrix images of bovine skeletal muscle tissues, and analyze their temporal variation behavior using multispectral Mueller matrix parameters. The 2D images of the Mueller matrix elements are reduced to the multispectral frequency distribution histograms (mFDHs) to reveal the dominant structural features of the muscle samples more clearly. For quantitative analysis, the multispectral Mueller matrix transformation (MMT) parameters are calculated to characterize the microstructural variations during the rigor mortis and proteolysis processes of the skeletal muscle tissue samples. The experimental results indicate that the multispectral MMT parameters can be used to judge different physiological stages for bovine skeletal muscle tissues in 24 hours, and combining with the multispectral technique, the Mueller matrix polarimetry and FDH analysis can monitor the microstructural variation features of skeletal muscle samples. The techniques may be used for quick assessment and quantitative monitoring of meat qualities in food industry.
Polarized light is sensitive to the microstructures of biological tissues and can be used to detect physiological changes. Meanwhile, spectral features of the scattered light can also provide abundant microstructural information of tissues. In this paper, we take the backscattering polarization Mueller matrix images of bovine skeletal muscle tissues during the 24-hour experimental time, and analyze their multispectral behavior using quantitative Mueller matrix parameters. In the processes of rigor mortis and proteolysis of muscle samples, multispectral frequency distribution histograms (FDHs) of the Mueller matrix elements can reveal rich qualitative structural information. In addition, we analyze the temporal variations of the sample using the multispectral Mueller matrix transformation (MMT) parameters. The experimental results indicate that the different stages of rigor mortis and proteolysis for bovine skeletal muscle samples can be judged by these MMT parameters. The results presented in this work show that combining with the multispectral technique, the FDHs and MMT parameters can characterize the microstructural variation features of skeletal muscle tissues. The techniques have the potential to be used as tools for quantitative assessment of meat qualities in food industry.
A polarization microscope is a useful tool to reveal the optical anisotropic nature of a specimen and can provide abundant microstructural information about samples. We present a division of focal plane (DoFP) polarimeter-based polarization microscope capable of simultaneously measuring both the Stokes vector and the 3×4 Mueller matrix with an optimal polarization illumination scheme. The Mueller matrix images of unstained human carcinoma tissue slices show that the m24 and m34 elements can provide important information for pathological observations. The characteristic features of the m24 and m34 elements can be enhanced by polarization staining under illumination by a circularly polarized light. Hence, combined with a graphics processing unit acceleration algorithm, the DoFP polarization microscope is capable of real-time polarization imaging for potential quick clinical diagnoses of both standard and frozen slices of human carcinoma tissues.
Today the increasing cancer incidence rate is becoming one of the biggest threats to human health. Among all types of cancers, liver cancer ranks in the top five in both frequency and mortality rate all over the world. During the development of liver cancer, fibrosis often evolves as part of a healing process in response to liver damage, resulting in cirrhosis of liver tissues. In a previous study, we applied the Mueller matrix microscope to pathological liver tissue samples and found that both the Mueller matrix polar decomposition (MMPD) and Mueller matrix transformation (MMT) parameters are closely related to the fibrous microstructures. In this paper, we take this one step further to quantitatively facilitate the fibrosis detections and scorings of pathological liver tissue samples in different stages from cirrhosis to cancer using the Mueller matrix microscope. The experimental results of MMPD and MMT parameters for the fibrotic liver tissue samples in different stages are measured and analyzed. We also conduct Monte Carlo simulations based on the sphere birefringence model to examine in detail the influence of structural changes in different fibrosis stages on the imaging parameters. Both the experimental and simulated results indicate that the polarized light microscope and transformed Mueller matrix parameters can provide additional quantitative information helpful for fibrosis detections and scorings of liver cirrhosis and cancers. Therefore, the polarized light microscope and transformed Mueller matrix parameters have a good application prospect in liver cancer diagnosis.
Polarization microscope is a useful technique to observe the optical anisotropic nature of biomedical specimens and provide more microstructural information than the conventional microscope. In this paper, we present a division of focal plane (DoFP) polarimeter based polarization microscope which is capable of imaging both the Stokes vector and the 3×4 Mueller matrix. The Mueller matrix measurement can help us completely understand the polarization properties of the sample and the Stokes vector measurement is a simultaneous technology. First, we calibrate a DoFP polarimeter using the polarization data reduction method for accurate Stokes vector measurements. Second, as the Stokes vector computation for all pixels using the calibrated instrument matrix is usually time consuming, we develop a GPU acceleration algorithm for real time Stokes vector calculations. Third, based on the accurate and fast Stokes vector calculation, we present an optimal 4-states of polarization (4-SoP) illumination scheme for Mueller matrix measurement using the DoFP polarimeter. Finally, we demonstrate the biomedical applications of the DoFP polarimeter based polarization microscope. Experiment results show that the characteristic features of many biomedical samples can be observed in the “polarization staining” images using the circularly polarized light as illumination. In this way, combined with GPU acceleration algorithm, the DoFP polarization microscope has the capacity for real time polarization monitoring of dynamic processes in biological samples.
KEYWORDS: Mueller matrices, Biomedical optics, Polarization, Scattering, Monte Carlo methods, Tissues, Optical properties, Cancer, Backscatter, Birefringence, Liver, In vivo imaging
Polarization images contain abundant microstructural information of samples. Recently, as a comprehensive description of the structural and optical properties of complex media, the Mueller matrix imaging has been widely applied to biomedical studies, especially cancer detections. In previous works, we proposed a technique to transform the backscattering 3 × 3 Mueller matrices into a group of quantitative parameters with clear relationships to specific microstructures. In this paper, we extend this transformation method to full 4 × 4 Mueller matrices of both the back and forward scattering directions. Using the experimental results of phantoms and Monte Carlo simulation based on the sphere-cylinder birefringence model, we fit the Mueller matrix elements to trigonometric curves in polar coordinates and obtain a new set of transformation parameters, which can be expressed as analytical functions of 16 Mueller matrix elements. Both the experimental and simulated results demonstrate that the transformation parameters have simple relationships to the characteristic microstructural properties, including the densities and orientations of fibrous structures, the sizes of the scatterers, and the depolarization power of the samples. We also apply the transformation parameters of full 4 × 4 Mueller matrices to human liver cancerous tissues. Preliminary imaging results show that the parameters can quantitatively reflect the formation of fibrous birefringent tissues accompanying the cancerous processes. The findings presented in this study can be useful for in vivo or in vitro polarization imaging of tissues for diagnostic applications.
Polarization imaging techniques are recognized as potentially powerful tools to detect the structural changes of biological tissues. Meanwhile, spectral features of the scattered light can also provide abundant microstructural information, therefore can be applied in biomedical studies. In this paper, we adopt the polarization reflectance spectral imaging to analyze the microstructural changes of hydrolyzing skeletal muscle tissues. We measure the Mueller matrix, which is a comprehensive description of the polarization properties, of the bovine skeletal muscle samples in different periods of time, and analyze its behavior using the multispectral Mueller matrix transformation (MMT) technique. The experimental results show that for bovine skeletal muscle tissues, the backscattered spectral MMT parameters have different values and variation features at different stages. We can also find the experimental results indicate that the stages of hydrolysis for bovine skeletal muscle samples can be judged by the spectral MMT parameters. The results presented in this work show that combining with the spectral technique, the MMT parameters have the potential to be used as tools for meat quality detection and monitoring.
We present a new way to extract characteristic features of the Mueller matrix images based on their frequency distributions and the central moments. We take the backscattering Mueller matrices of tissues with distinctive microstructures, and then analyze the frequency distribution histograms (FDHs) of all the matrix elements. For anisotropic skeletal muscle and isotropic liver tissues, we find that the shapes of the FDHs and their central moment parameters, i.e., variance, skewness, and kurtosis, are not sensitive to the sample orientation. Comparisons among different tissues further indicate that the frequency distributions of Mueller matrix elements and their corresponding central moments can be used as indicators for the characteristic microstructural features of tissues. A preliminary application to human cervical cancerous tissues shows that the distribution curves and central moment parameters may have the potential to give quantitative criteria for cancerous tissues detections.
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