In vivo imaging of uterine cervix with a Mueller polarimetric colposcope

Abstract

Mueller polarimetric imaging enables the detection and quantification of modifications of the collagen fibers in the uterine cervix due to the development of a precancerous lesion. This information is not accessible through the use of the classic colposcope, a low magnification microscope used in current practice for cervical cancer screening. However, the in vivo application of Mueller polarimetric imaging poses an instrumental challenge: the device should be sufficiently compact, while still being able to perform fast and accurate acquisition of Mueller matrices in real-world conditions. In this study, the first wide field Mueller Polarimetric Colposcope (MPC) for the in vivo analysis of uterine cervix is presented. The MPC has been fabricated by grafting a miniaturized Mueller polarimetric imager on a classic colposcope. This new imaging tool performs the fast acquisition of Mueller polarimetric images, thus eliminating any blurring effects due to patient movements. It can be easily used by a practitioner with little change to their existing practice. Finally, the MPC was tested in vivo on a number of patients in the field.

Use of Mueller matrix colposcopy in the characterization of cervical collagen anisotropy

“…Relevant research has demonstrated the ability of Mueller matrix polarimetry to identify colorectal and cervical cancer. [26][27][28] We have developed a preterm imaging system (PRIM) based on a standard colposcope, with a high sensitivity to cervical ultrastructure (see Fig. 1).…”

Mapping of retardance, diattenuation and polarizance vector on Poincare sphere for diagnosis and classification of cervical precancer

“…Various imaging techniques, primarily based on transmission, absorption, reflection, spontaneous emission and scattering in light‐tissue interactions, have shown to be responsive to a number of subtle alterations in various diseased tissue. Mueller matrix (MM) polarimetric imaging based on the acquisition of 16 images has shown tremendous potential in precancer detection since the last decade and is best suited for a complete characterization of the biological specimen . These MM images are further processed to extract the essential optical parameters, namely, diattenuation, retardation and depolarization through Lu‐Chipman decomposition method .…”

Detection and localization of the hemoglobin and collagen distribution of the uterine cervix

“…31 Polarized images o®er tremendous potential for biomedical applications, which distinguish between healthy and pathological regions 32 on several types of tissues, such as skin, 33 intestine, 34 colon, 35 rectum 36 and cervix. 31,[37][38][39] Li et al studied the use of a digital colposcope, which acquires polarized and nonpolarized color cervical images during a clinical exam. 37 Several image processing algorithms are used to locate the acetovhite lesion.…”