Ex vivo characterization of normal and adenocarcinoma colon samples by Mueller matrix polarimetry

Abstract. Mueller matrix polarimetry along with polar decomposition algorithm was employed for the characterization of ex vivo normal and adenocarcinoma human colon tissues by polarized light in the visible spectral range (425–725 nm). Six derived polarization metrics [total diattenuation (DT), retardance (RT), depolarization (ΔT), linear diattenuation (DL), retardance (δ), and depolarization (ΔL)] were compared for normal and adenocarcinoma colon tissue samples. The results show that all six polarimetric properties for adenocarcinoma samples were significantly higher as compared to the normal samples for all wavelengths. The Wilcoxon rank sum test illustrated that total retardance is a good candidate for the discrimination of normal and adenocarcinoma colon samples. Support vector machine classification for normal and adenocarcinoma based on the four polarization properties spectra (ΔT, ΔL, RT,and δ) yielded 100% accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity, while both DT and DL   showed 66.6%, 33.3%, and 83.3% accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity, respectively. The combination of polarization analysis and given classification methods provides a framework to distinguish the normal and cancerous tissues.