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Biomedical Optics Express

Biomedical Optics Express

  • Editor: Joseph A. Izatt
  • Vol. 3, Iss. 7 — Jul. 1, 2012
  • pp: 1670–1683

Optics InfoBase > Biomedical Optics Express > Volume 3 > Issue 7 > Page 1670

Polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography of melanin provides intrinsic contrast based on depolarization

Bernhard Baumann, Stefan O. Baumann, Thomas Konegger, Michael Pircher, Erich Götzinger, Ferdinand Schlanitz, Christopher Schütze, Harald Sattmann, Marco Litschauer, Ursula Schmidt-Erfurth, and Christoph K. Hitzenberger  »View Author Affiliations


Biomedical Optics Express, Vol. 3, Issue 7, pp. 1670-1683 (2012)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/BOE.3.001670


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Abstract

Polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) is a functional extension of OCT. In addition to imaging based on tissue reflectivity, PS-OCT also enables depth-resolved mapping of sample polarization properties such as phase-retardation, birefringent axis orientation, Stokes vectors, and degree of polarization uniformity (DOPU). In this study, PS-OCT was used to investigate the polarization properties of melanin. In-vitro measurements in samples with varying melanin concentrations revealed polarization scrambling, i.e. depolarization of backscattered light. Polarization scrambling in the PS-OCT images was more pronounced for higher melanin concentrations and correlated with the concentration of the melanin granules in the phantoms. Moreover, in-vivo PS-OCT was performed in the retinas of normal subjects and individuals with albinism. Unlike in the normal eye, polarization scrambling in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) was less pronounced or even not observable in PS-OCT images of albinos. These results indicate that the depolarizing appearance of pigmented structures like, for instance, the RPE is likely to be caused by the melanin granules contained in these cells.

© 2012 OSA

OCIS Codes
(170.4470) Medical optics and biotechnology : Ophthalmology
(170.4500) Medical optics and biotechnology : Optical coherence tomography
(170.4580) Medical optics and biotechnology : Optical diagnostics for medicine
(230.5440) Optical devices : Polarization-selective devices
(170.6935) Medical optics and biotechnology : Tissue characterization

ToC Category:
Optical Coherence Tomography

History
Original Manuscript: April 19, 2012
Revised Manuscript: June 14, 2012
Manuscript Accepted: June 15, 2012
Published: June 21, 2012

Citation
Bernhard Baumann, Stefan O. Baumann, Thomas Konegger, Michael Pircher, Erich Götzinger, Ferdinand Schlanitz, Christopher Schütze, Harald Sattmann, Marco Litschauer, Ursula Schmidt-Erfurth, and Christoph K. Hitzenberger, "Polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography of melanin provides intrinsic contrast based on depolarization," Biomed. Opt. Express 3, 1670-1683 (2012)
http://www.opticsinfobase.org/boe/abstract.cfm?URI=boe-3-7-1670


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