We present a polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) technique that can quantify the polarization changes (the degrees of circular polarization, DOCP) caused by the scattering changes induced by cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). The axial and lateral resolutions of our PS-OCT system are 13 microm and 15 microm, respectively. Uterine cervical conization tissue samples from 18 patients were examined, and 71 areas were imaged for in vitro studies; about 2-4 areas per sample were imaged and processed for diagnosis. The scanned areas had a size of 2 mm (axial) X 2 mm (lateral) X 4 mm (transversal). We quantified the slope of the axial decay of the DOCP signal near the cervical epithelium by a linear fitting procedure. The excised samples were then investigated by two pathologists, and their histological findings were later compared with the PS-OCT results. Our results show that the sensitivity and specificity are 94.7% and 71.2%, respectively.
We demonstrate that changes in the degree of polarization (DOP) depend on changes in the scattering coefficient, and they can be quantified by using a polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) system. We test our hypothesis using liquid and solid phantoms made from Intralipid suspensions and gelatin, respectively. We also quantify the DOP changes with depth caused by changes in the concentration of scatterers in the liquid and solid phantoms. It is clearly shown that the DOP change has a linear relationship with the scattering change. In our previous study, we showed that the axial slope of the DOP is different between normal and pathologic cervical tissues. Our results demonstrate that the quantification of the axial DOP slope can be used for the systematic diagnosis of certain tissue pathology.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.