Depolarization Characteristics of Biological Tissues in Transmissive Imaging Configurations Over the Visible Spectrum

Abstract

Images of gastrointestinal cancer samples taken in a transmission configuration have shown an increase in depolarization in the tumor relative to the healthy tissue. Furthermore, the depolarization of the cancerous tissue increases with wavelength. This conflicts with previous measurements taken in the reflection (backscatter) configuration. Monte-Carlo analysis was done using Rayleigh and Mie scattering objects to attempt to model the polarization properties of the tissue in a transmissive imaging configuration. Results show that increased cellular density can lead to the increase in depolarization of the tumor compared to the healthy tissue, however, Rayleigh and Mie based scattering theory can not explain the increase in depolarization with wavelength that was measured across the visible spectrum.