A method is proposed for determining the glucose concentration on the human fingertip by extracting two optical parameters, namely the optical rotation angle and the depolarization index, using a Mueller optical coherence tomography technique and a genetic algorithm. The feasibility of the proposed method is demonstrated by measuring the optical rotation angle and depolarization index of aqueous glucose solutions with low and high scattering, respectively. It is shown that for both solutions, the optical rotation angle and depolarization index vary approximately linearly with the glucose concentration. As a result, the ability of the proposed method to obtain the glucose concentration by means of just two optical parameters is confirmed. The practical applicability of the proposed technique is demonstrated by measuring the optical rotation angle and depolarization index on the human fingertip of healthy volunteers under various glucose conditions.

A hybrid model comprising the differential Mueller matrix formalism and the Mueller matrix decomposition method is proposed for extracting the linear birefringence (LB), linear dichroism (LD), circular birefringence (CB), circular dichroism (CD), and depolarization properties (Dep) of turbid optical samples. In contrast to the differential-based Mueller matrix method, the proposed hybrid model provides full-range measurements of all the anisotropic properties of the optical sample. Furthermore, compared to the decomposition-based Mueller matrix method, the proposed model is insensitive to the multiplication order of the constituent basis matrices. The validity of the proposed method is confirmed by extracting the anisotropic properties of a compound chitosan-glucose-microsphere sample with LB/CB/Dep properties and two ferrofluidic samples with CB/CD/Dep and LB/LD/Dep properties, respectively. It is shown that the proposed hybrid model not only yields full-range measurements of all the anisotropic parameters, but is also more accurate and more stable than the decomposition method. Moreover, compared to the decomposition method, the proposed model more accurately reflects the dependency of the phase retardation angle and linear dichroism angle on the direction of the external magnetic field for ferrofluidic samples. Overall, the results presented in this study confirm that the proposed model has significant potential for extracting the optical parameters of real-world samples characterized by either single or multiple anisotropic properties.

Limbs may fail to grow properly during fetal development, but the extent to which such growth alters the nervous system has not been extensively explored. Here we describe the organization of the somatosensory system in a 6-year-old monkey (Macaca radiata) born with a deformed left foot in comparison to the results from a normal monkey (Macaca fascicularis). Toes 1, 3, and 5 were missing, but the proximal parts of toes 2 and 4 were present. We used anatomical tracers to characterize the patterns of peripheral input to the spinal cord and brainstem, as well as between thalamus and cortex. We also determined the somatotopic organization of primary somatosensory area 3b of both hemispheres using multiunit electrophysiological recording. Tracers were subcutaneously injected into matching locations of each foot to reveal their representations within the lumbar spinal cord, and the gracile nucleus (GrN) of the brainstem. Tracers injected into the representations of the toes and plantar pads of cortical area 3b labeled neurons in the ventroposterior lateral nucleus (VPL) of the thalamus. Contrary to the orderly arrangement of the foot representation throughout the lemniscal pathway in the normal monkey, the plantar representation of the deformed foot was significantly expanded and intruded into the expected representations of toes in the spinal cord, GrN, VPL, and area 3b. We also observed abnormal representation of the intact foot in the ipsilateral spinal cord and contralateral area 3b. Thus, congenital malformation influences the somatotopic representation of the deformed as well as the intact foot.

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An optical-based method is proposed for measuring the glucose concentration of samples containing scattering particles. In the proposed approach, a Stokes-Mueller reflection-based polarimetry technique is used to solve the Mueller matrices of a turbid glucose sample with circular birefringence and depolarization properties given six incident lights with different polarization states. Using an error function defined as the difference between the simulated output Stokes vectors and the experimental ones, a genetic algorithm is used to inversely derive the optical rotation and depolarization parameters of the experimental sample corresponding to the glucose concentration and scattering depolarization effect, respectively. The validity of the proposed method is demonstrated using glucose samples containing 0.02 ml and 0.04 ml lipofundin, respectively.