Mueller matrix imaging for collagen scoring in mice model of pregnancy

Abstract

Preterm birth risk is associated with early softening of the uterine cervix in pregnancy due to the accelerated remodeling of collagen extracellular matrix. Studies of mice model of pregnancy were performed with an imaging Mueller polarimeter at different time points of pregnancy to find polarimetric parameters for collagen scoring. Mueller matrix images of the unstained sections of mice uterine cervices were taken at day 6 and day 18 of 19-days gestation period and at different spatial locations through the cervices. The logarithmic decomposition of the recorded Mueller matrices mapped the depolarization, linear retardance, and azimuth of the optical axis of cervical tissue. These images highlighted both the inner structure of cervix and the arrangement of cervical collagen fibers confirmed by the second harmonic generation microscopy. The statistical analysis and two-Gaussians fit of the distributions of linear retardance and linear depolarization in the entire images of cervical tissue (without manual selection of the specific regions of interest) quantified the randomization of collagen fibers alignment with gestation time. At day 18 the remodeling of cervical extracellular matrix of collagen was measurable at the external cervical os that is available for the direct optical observations in vivo. It supports the assumption that imaging Mueller polarimetry holds promise for the fast and accurate collagen scoring in pregnancy and the assessment of the preterm birth risk.

Birefringence effect studies of collagen formed by nonenzymatic glycation using dual-retarder Mueller polarimetry

“…Recently, Lee et al. 34 demonstrated that the images of polarization and depolarization parameters with LMMD are available for collagen visualization of cervical tissues using a liquid crystal-based Mueller polarimetric imaging system. The results for the mice model of pregnancy indicated that this method has a good potential to become a clinical tool for in vivo detection of the PTB risk.…”

“…Furthermore, Li et al 33 used Mueller matrix microscopy data, 32 the logarithmic decomposition approach, and polarized Monte Carlo (MC) modeling for analyzing tissue microstructure in human skin equivalents. Recently, Lee et al 34 demonstrated that the images of polarization and depolarization parameters with LMMD are available for collagen visualization of cervical tissues using a liquid crystal-based Mueller polarimetric imaging system. The results for the mice model of pregnancy indicated that this method has a good potential to become a clinical tool for in vivo detection of the PTB risk.…”

Polarization-Based Histopathology Classification of Ex Vivo Colon Samples Supported by Machine Learning

“…It was shown earlier that tissue polarimetry techniques could be effectively combined to juxtapose polarization and depolarization parameters from different health conditions after scanning, embrace the Poincaré sphere visualization for qualitative differentiation, and construct various depolarization spaces [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. Ample diagnostic information related to the morphology of the tissue specimens under study is encoded in their Mueller matrices [26,[29][30][31][32]. Nevertheless, the intertwined relation between the samples' polarization and depolarization properties and their matrix elements is accessible only after the application of pertinent decomposition algorithms [33][34][35][36][37][38].…”

Combined Mueller matrix imaging and artificial intelligence classification framework for Hepatitis B detection

“…Lee et al. 15 showed that Mueller matrix imaging polarimetry (MMIP) is an effective technique for performing the rapid and precise scoring of collagen in pregnancy to evaluate the preterm birth risk. Liu et al.…”