Determination of 3D optic axis orientation in cartilage by polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography

Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography has been used to solve fast-axis fibre orientation in three dimension space. Previously we have demonstrated that the apparent variations in polar angle orientation of collagen fibers along sagittal ridge of equine third metacarpophalangeal joint exist. A quantitative method based on multiple angles of illumination has been proposed to determine the polar angle of the collagen fibers. This method however ignored the full 3D structure by assuming that the collagen fibers long-axis lay within the plane of incidence. A new quantitative method based on the theory of light propagation in uniaxial materials is described which avoids this assumption. To test this method we have performed control experiments on a sample of equine tendon (this tissue has well defined c-axis lying along the long-axis of the tendon). Several samples of tendon were cut to achieve a planar surface inclined at -20° to the long axis. Additional 30° rotation provided non-zero azimuthal angle. The surface was then imaged using incident beam angles -40°, -20°, 0, +20°, +40° in two orthogonal planes. Values for both the polar and azimuthal angles were then derived using a numerical optimisation procedure. Results agreed qualitatively with the nominal values but suggested that the accuracy was limited by our method of determining the apparent birefringence.

[1]  M. V. van Gemert,et al.  Two-dimensional birefringence imaging in biological tissue using polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography , 1997, European Conference on Biomedical Optics.

[2]  S. Matcher,et al.  The collagen structure of equine articular cartilage, characterized using polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography , 2005 .

[3]  J. Fujimoto,et al.  High-speed phase- and group-delay scanning with a grating-based phase control delay line. , 1997, Optics letters.

[4]  Shuliang Jiao,et al.  Contrast mechanisms in polarization-sensitive Mueller-matrix optical coherence tomography and application in burn imaging. , 2003, Applied optics.

[5]  Pochi Yeh,et al.  Extended Jones matrix method. II , 1993 .

[6]  J. Lynch,et al.  Joint space width measures cartilage thickness in osteoarthritis of the knee: high resolution plain film and double contrast macroradiographic investigation. , 1995, Annals of the rheumatic diseases.

[7]  Nadya Ugryumova,et al.  Measurement of bone mineral density via light scattering. , 2004, Physics in medicine and biology.

[8]  A. Fercher,et al.  Measurement and imaging of birefringence and optic axis orientation by phase resolved polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography. , 2001, Optics express.

[9]  J. Fujimoto,et al.  Polarization-sensitive low-coherence reflectometer for birefringence characterization and ranging , 1992 .

[10]  J. Izatt,et al.  In vivo bidirectional color Doppler flow imaging of picoliter blood volumes using optical coherence tomography. , 1997, Optics letters.

[11]  B E Bouma,et al.  High resolution imaging of normal and osteoarthritic cartilage with optical coherence tomography. , 1999, The Journal of rheumatology.

[12]  Sergei V. Gangnus,et al.  The collagen structure of bovine intervertebral disc studied using polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography. , 2004, Physics in medicine and biology.

[13]  P. Yeh,et al.  Optical Waves in Layered Media , 1988 .

[14]  W. Sorin,et al.  A simple intensity noise reduction technique for optical low-coherence reflectometry , 1992, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[15]  P. Yeh.  Extended Jones matrix method , 1982 .

[16]  V. Tuchin.  Tissue Optics: Light Scattering Methods and Instruments for Medical Diagnosis , 2000 .

[17]  Sergei V. Gangnus,et al.  Three-dimensional optic axis determination using variable-incidence-angle polarization-optical coherence tomography. , 2006, Optics letters.