Evaluating backscattering polarized light imaging microstructural mapping capabilities through neural tissue and analogous phantom imaging

Justina Bonaventura; Kellys Morara; Rhea Carlson; Courtney Comrie; AnneLeigh Twer; Elizabeth Hutchinson; Travis W. Sawyer

doi:10.1117/1.JBO.29.5.052914

5 December 2023 Evaluating backscattering polarized light imaging microstructural mapping capabilities through neural tissue and analogous phantom imaging

Justina Bonaventura, Kellys Morara, Rhea Carlson, Courtney Comrie, AnneLeigh Twer, Elizabeth Hutchinson, Travis W. Sawyer

Author Affiliations +

Journal of Biomedical Optics, Vol. 29, Issue 5, 052914 (December 2023). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.29.5.052914

Abstract

Significance

Knowledge of fiber microstructure and orientation in the brain is critical for many applications. Polarized light imaging (PLI) has been shown to have potential for better understanding neural fiber microstructure and directionality due to the anisotropy in myelin sheaths surrounding nerve fibers of the brain. Continuing to advance backscattering based PLI systems could provide a valuable avenue for in vivo neural imaging.

Aim

To assess the potential of backscattering PLI systems, the ability to resolve crossing fibers, and the sensitivity to fiber inclination and curvature are considered across different imaging wavelengths.

Approach

Investigation of these areas of relative uncertainty is undergone through imaging potential phantoms alongside analogous regions of interest in fixed ferret brain samples with a five-wavelength backscattering Mueller matrix polarimeter.

Results

Promising phantoms are discovered for which the retardance, diattenuation and depolarization mappings are derived from the Mueller matrix and studied to assess the sensitivity of this polarimeter configuration to fiber orientations and tissue structures.

Conclusions

Rich avenues for future study include further classifying this polarimeter’s sensitivity to fiber inclination and fiber direction to accurately produce microstructural maps of neural tissue.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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Justina Bonaventura, Kellys Morara, Rhea Carlson, Courtney Comrie, AnneLeigh Twer, Elizabeth Hutchinson, and Travis W. Sawyer "Evaluating backscattering polarized light imaging microstructural mapping capabilities through neural tissue and analogous phantom imaging," Journal of Biomedical Optics 29(5), 052914 (5 December 2023). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.29.5.052914

Received: 22 May 2023; Accepted: 6 November 2023; Published: 5 December 2023

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KEYWORDS

Backscatter

Polarimetry

Brain

Imaging systems

Biomedical optics

Brain tissue

Polarized light

Significance

Aim

Approach

Results

Conclusions

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