A high definition Mueller polarimetric endoscope for tissue characterisation

The contrast mechanism of medical endoscopy is mainly based on metrics of optical intensity and wavelength. As another fundamental property of light, polarization can not only reveal tissue scattering and absorption information from a different perspective, but can also provide insight into directional tissue birefringence properties to monitor pathological changes in collagen and elastin. Here we demonstrate a low cost wide field high definition Mueller polarimetric endoscope with minimal alterations to a rigid endoscope. We show that this novel endoscopic imaging modality is able to provide a number of image contrast mechanisms besides traditional unpolarized radiation intensity, including linear depolarization, circular depolarization, cross-polarization, directional birefringence and dichroism. This enhances tissue features of interest, and additionally reveals tissue micro-structure and composition, which is of central importance for tissue diagnosis and image guidance for surgery. The potential applications of the Mueller polarimetric endoscope include wide field early epithelial cancer diagnosis, surgical margin detection and energy-based tissue fusion monitoring, and could further benefit a wide range of endoscopic investigations through intra-operative guidance.

[1]  Guang-Zhong Yang,et al.  Multispectral image alignment using a three channel endoscope in vivo during minimally invasive surgery , 2012, Biomedical optics express.

[2]  Nirmalya Ghosh,et al.  Tissue polarimetry: concepts, challenges, applications, and outlook. , 2011, Journal of biomedical optics.

[3]  Nan Zeng,et al.  Characterizing microstructures of cancerous tissues using multispectral transformed Mueller matrix polarization parameters. , 2015, Biomedical optics express.

[4]  Schmitt,et al.  Depolarization of multiply scattered waves by spherical diffusers: Influence of the size parameter. , 1994, Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics.

[5]  Angelo Pierangelo,et al.  Multispectral Mueller polarimetric imaging detecting residual cancer and cancer regression after neoadjuvant treatment for colorectal carcinomas , 2013, Journal of biomedical optics.

[6]  Jessica C Ramella-Roman,et al.  Imaging skin pathology with polarized light. , 2002, Journal of biomedical optics.

[7]  W. S. Lam,et al.  Polarimetry , 2018, Polarized Light and Optical Systems.

[8]  Dwight C. Look,et al.  Optimum angles for a Mueller matrix polarimeter , 1994, Optics & Photonics.

[9]  I Alex Vitkin,et al.  Optical rotation and linear and circular depolarization rates in diffusively scattered light from chiral, racemic, and achiral turbid media. , 2002, Journal of biomedical optics.

[10]  Angelo Pierangelo,et al.  Polarimetric imaging of uterine cervix: a case study. , 2013, Optics express.

[11]  Rangachar Kasturi,et al.  Machine vision , 1995 .

[12]  Danail Stoyanov,et al.  Polarised stereo endoscope and narrowband detection for minimal access surgery. , 2014, Biomedical optics express.

[13]  P. Anthony.  Robbins' Pathologic Basis of Disease , 1990 .

[14]  Anthony Kim,et al.  Quantitative correlation between light depolarization and transport albedo of various porcine tissues. , 2012, Journal of biomedical optics.

[15]  Nirmalya Ghosh,et al.  Depolarization of light in turbid media: a scattering event resolved Monte Carlo study. , 2010, Applied optics.

[16]  Daniel S. Elson,et al.  Polarization response measurement and simulation of rigid endoscopes , 2010, Biomedical optics express.

[17]  Hui Ma,et al.  Quantitatively differentiating microstructures of tissues by frequency distributions of Mueller matrix images , 2015, Journal of biomedical optics.

[18]  P. Bonaldo,et al.  Collagen VI in cancer and its biological mechanisms. , 2013, Trends in molecular medicine.

[19]  J. Walsh,et al.  Comparative study of polarized light propagation in biologic tissues. , 2002, Journal of biomedical optics.

[20]  B. Drévillon,et al.  General and self-consistent method for the calibration of polarization modulators, polarimeters, and mueller-matrix ellipsometers. , 1999, Applied optics.

[21]  S L Jacques,et al.  Circular polarization memory in polydisperse scattering media. , 2015, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[22]  Edward Collett,et al.  Polarized Light in Fiber Optics , 2003 .

[23]  Nan Zeng,et al.  Characterizing the microstructures of biological tissues using Mueller matrix and transformed polarization parameters. , 2014, Biomedical optics express.

[24]  Darius J. Bägli,et al.  The bladder extracellular matrix. Part I: architecture, development and disease , 2009, Nature Reviews Urology.

[25]  Shuliang Jiao,et al.  Two-dimensional depth-resolved Mueller matrix of biological tissue measured with double-beam polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography. , 2002, Optics letters.

[26]  R. Chipman,et al.  Interpretation of Mueller matrices based on polar decomposition , 1996 .

[27]  Nan Zeng,et al.  Differentiating characteristic microstructural features of cancerous tissues using Mueller matrix microscope. , 2015, Micron.

[28]  Hui Ma,et al.  Mueller matrix polarimetry for differentiating characteristic features of cancerous tissues , 2014, Journal of biomedical optics.

[29]  Danail Stoyanov,et al.  Robust registration of multispectral images of the cortical surface in neurosurgery , 2012, 2012 9th IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI).

[30]  Igor Meglinski,et al.  Application of circularly polarized light for non‐invasive diagnosis of cancerous tissues and turbid tissue‐like scattering media , 2015, Journal of biophotonics.

[31]  Zhongping Chen,et al.  Use of polar decomposition for the diagnosis of oral precancer. , 2007, Applied optics.

[32]  J. Gerring.  A case study , 2011, Technology and Society.

[33]  Nirmalya Ghosh,et al.  Mueller matrix decomposition for extraction of individual polarization parameters from complex turbid media exhibiting multiple scattering, optical activity, and linear birefringence. , 2008, Journal of biomedical optics.

[34]  Lihong V. Wang,et al.  Biomedical Optics: Principles and Imaging , 2007 .

[35]  M. E. Cox.  Handbook of Optics , 1980 .

[36]  K. Messmer,et al.  Orthogonal polarization spectral imaging: A new method for study of the microcirculation , 1999, Nature Medicine.

[37]  Ji Qi,et al.  Narrow band 3 × 3 Mueller polarimetric endoscopy. , 2013, Biomedical optics express.

[38]  Antonello De Martino,et al.  Demonstration of full 4×4 Mueller polarimetry through an optical fiber for endoscopic applications. , 2015, Optics express.

[39]  Angelo Pierangelo,et al.  Mueller matrix imaging of human colon tissue for cancer diagnostics: how Monte Carlo modeling can help in the interpretation of experimental data. , 2010, Optics express.

[40]  M. Moscoso,et al.  Influence of the relative refractive index on the depolarization of multiply scattered waves. , 2001, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[41]  Angelo Pierangelo,et al.  Ex vivo photometric and polarimetric multilayer characterization of human healthy colon by multispectral Mueller imaging. , 2012, Journal of biomedical optics.

[42]  A. Pierangelo,et al.  Ex-vivo characterization of human colon cancer by Mueller polarimetric imaging. , 2011, Optics express.

[43]  Michael S. Feld,et al.  Polarized light scattering spectroscopy for quantitative measurement of epithelial cellular structures in situ , 1999 .

[44]  Hui Ma,et al.  Study on the validity of 3 × 3 Mueller matrix decomposition , 2015, Journal of biomedical optics.

[45]  L V Wang,et al.  Depth-resolved two-dimensional stokes vectors of backscattered light and mueller matrices of biological tissue measured with optical coherence tomography. , 2000, Applied optics.

[46]  Quan Liu,et al.  Investigation on the potential of Mueller matrix imaging for digital staining , 2016, Journal of biophotonics.

[47]  Antonello De Martino,et al.  Mueller polarimetric imaging system with liquid crystals. , 2004, Applied optics.

[48]  Valery V. Tuchin,et al.  Optical polarization in biomedical applications , 2006 .

[49]  Angelo Pierangelo,et al.  Spatial evolution of depolarization in homogeneous turbid media within the differential Mueller matrix formalism. , 2015, Optics letters.

[50]  Sanaz Alali,et al.  Assessment of local structural disorders of the bladder wall in partial bladder outlet obstruction using polarized light imaging. , 2014, Biomedical optics express.

[51]  M. K. Swami,et al.  Polar decomposition of 3 x 3 Mueller matrix: a tool for quantitative tissue polarimetry. , 2006, Optics express.

[52]  D. Elson,et al.  Polarized multispectral imaging in a rigid endoscope based on elastic light scattering spectroscopy , 2012, Biomedical optics express.

[53]  Irving Itzkan,et al.  Multispectral scanning during endoscopy guides biopsy of dysplasia in Barrett's esophagus , 2010, Nature Medicine.

[54]  G. Chejfec.  Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease , 2009 .

[55]  Hui Ma,et al.  Mapping local orientation of aligned fibrous scatterers for cancerous tissues using backscattering Mueller matrix imaging , 2014, Journal of biomedical optics.

[56]  Callum M. Macdonald,et al.  Backscattering of circular polarized light from a disperse random medium influenced by optical clearing , 2011 .

[57]  Andrew K. Dunn,et al.  Three-dimensional computation of light scattering from cells , 1996 .

[58]  Asima Pradhan,et al.  Depolarization of light in a multiply scattering medium: effect of the refractive index of a scatterer. , 2004, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[59]  E. García-Caurel,et al.  General methods for optimized design and calibration of Mueller polarimeters , 2004 .

[60]  K. Badizadegan,et al.  NAD(P)H and collagen as in vivo quantitative fluorescent biomarkers of epithelial precancerous changes. , 2002, Cancer research.

[61]  T. Ushiki,et al.  Three-dimensional arrangement of collagen and elastin fibers in the human urinary bladder: a scanning electron microscopic study. , 1995, The Journal of urology.

[62]  H. J. van Staveren,et al.  Light scattering in Intralipid-10% in the wavelength range of 400-1100 nm. , 1991, Applied optics.

[63]  Y. Murakami.  A Scanning Electron Microscopic Study , 1983 .