Multi-Contrast Jones-Matrix Optical Coherence Tomography—The Concept, Principle, Implementation, and Applications

Abstract

Jones-matrix optical coherence tomography (JM-OCT) is an extension of polarization-sensitive OCT, which provides multiple types of optical contrasts of biological and clinical samples. JM-OCT measures the spatial distribution of the Jones matrix of the sample and also its time sequence. All contrasts (i.e., multi-contrast OCT images) are then computed from the Jones matrix. The contrasts obtained from the Jones matrix include not only the conventional and polarization-insensitive OCT intensity, cumulative and local phase retardation (birefringence), degreeof-polarization uniformity quantifying the polarization randomness of the sample, diattenuation, but also signal attenuation coefficient, sample scatterer density, Doppler OCT, OCT angiography, and dynamic OCT that contrasts intracellular motility or metabolism by analyzing the temporal fluctuation of the OCT signal. JM-OCT is a generalized version of OCT because it measures the generalized form of the sample information; i.e., the Jones matrix sequence. This review summarizes the basic conception, mathematical principle, hardware implementation, signal and image processing, and biological and clinical applications of JM-OCT. Advanced technical topics, including JM-OCTspecific noise correction and quantity estimation and JM-OCT's self-calibration nature, are also described.

Multi-focus averaging for multiple scattering suppression in optical coherence tomography

“…PS-OCT is a functional extension of OCT that provides additional polarization contrast for the quantitative evaluation of the optical properties of tissues [ 26 – 28 ]. It is also known that MS affects the polarization measurement of PS-OCT [ 27 ].…”

Imaging and quantification of prostate cancer-associated bone by polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography

“…By using Jones matrix detection, PS-OCT allows us to assess multiple contrasts from tissues. In this study, we utilized PS-OCT to acquire four distinct image contrasts: intensity image, phase retardation image, degree of polarization uniformity (DOPU) image, and effective signal- to-noise ratio (ESNR) image [21-23]. ESNR was also used to select the imaging depth for reliable phase retardation calculation with a threshold of 10 dB [26].…”

“…However, these modalities are either highly invasive, or cannot provide depth information. Polarization-Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography (PS-OCT), a noninvasive 3D imaging technique, with its multi-contrast sensitivity, has the potential to emerge as a powerful tool in directly differentiating between different bone tissue types [21][22][23]. PS-OCT leverages the polarization properties of light to unravel intricate features of bone tissue, including collagen fiber organization and lacunar morphology.…”

“…This unique capability enables PS-OCT to discern nuanced differences between various bone tissue types. Moreover, PS-OCT operates at a micrometer scale resolution and millimeter scale depth penetration [23], potentially allowing for the visualization of fine 3D collagen organizations and lacunar morphology alterations associated with bone metastases.…”

Online measurement of birefringence of sensing fibers in the AFOCT system

“…15 The transfer equation of the system can be obtained by sequentially multiplying the Jones matrices of each optical device along the transmission path of the polarized light. 16 The Jones matrices of each device are denoted as follows: L p for the polarizer, L PM,fw and L PM,bw for the PM with respect to the forward and backward transmission, L F,fw and L F,bw for the sensing fiber with respect to the forward and backward transmission, and L mirro for the mirror reflector. Then, multiplying the input light E in with these transfer equations in sequence yields the output light E o , 17…”