Theoretical analysis of backscattered polarization patterns of turbid media containing glucose

Single scattering model and Stokes-Mueller formalism are introduced to investigate the influence of glucose on backscattered polarization patterns in turbid media. Glucose molecules rotate the polarization plane and induce changes in backscattered Mueller matrix patterns. Some Mueller matrix elements present higher optical rotation as the concentration of glucose augments. Using image subtraction and integration,linear relationship between low glucose concentration in the physiological range and optical rotation degree can be derived.     

New technique to simulate angular patterns of polarized signals from multiply scattering media in MFOV and CCD lidars

We present a semi-analytical approach to determine angular patterns of a polarized intensity that form lidar signals from multiply scattering media registered by a monostatic multiple-field-of-view receiver or CCD camera for any polarization state of incident light and any analyzer state at a receiver. Multiply scattering media with a highly forward elongated phase functions are considered. The model of lidar signal formation includes the single near-backscattering and small-angle multiple scattering of light. The developed approach allows computation and analysis of polarized images, including the Mueller matrix images, formed by the laser light backscattered by multiply scattering media, for example, from atmospheric clouds, ocean waters, tissue, etc.     

基于蒙特卡罗模拟的散射介质中后向光散射模型及分析应用

构建了内光源模型探讨散射介质中的光散射现象,利用蒙特卡罗方法研究了逃逸出组织的后向散射光子数随光子在组织内部发生的散射次数的分布关系,探讨了光源照明方式、辐射强度、接收方式、调制等参数的变化对后向散射的影响,结果表明后向散射光子的数量随散射次数的分布并非简单的单调递增或递减,而是一条先增大后减小出现峰值的曲线. 峰值位置、峰值大小及曲线形状与光源、探测方式、组织光学特性参数等有关. 关键词： 医用光学与生物技术 散射介质 后向散射 蒙特卡罗模拟     

Polarization preservation in diffusive scattering from in vivo turbid biological media: effects of tissue optical absorption in the exact backscattering direction

There is considerable recent interest in using polarized light to investigate turbid biological media. Although tissue multiple scattering randomizes incident polarization states, there are circumstances when appreciable degree of polarization can be observed in diffusive scattering. In this study, we use polarization modulation and synchronous detection to examine in the exact backscattering direction the polarization properties of diffusely reflected visible light from hands of human volunteers of varying pigmentation levels. The surviving polarization fraction increases with increasing pigmentation, likely due to preferential loss of highly scattered, long-pathlength photons; this mechanism lowers the average pathlength traversed by the detected light and hence increases the measured polarization preservation. This behavior is contrasted with the overall diffuse reflectance intensity, whose magnitude decreases with increasing absorption. These experiments demonstrate the important influences of medium optical properties on the polarization characteristics of multiply scattered light, which must be further investigated to enable quantitative polarization evaluation of turbid media such as biological tissues.     

Calculations of Backscattering Mueller Matrices for Turbid Media with a Sphere Queue Model

A sphere queue model is introduced to calculate Mueller matrices of turbid media. Combined with the single scattering approximation, the backscattering Mueller matrices of turbid media can be computed rapidly by Mie theory. The numerical results agree with the azimuthal dependences of backscattering Mueller matrices＇ patterns from turbid media, which indicates that the major contribution to the Mueller matrices＇ patterns comes from the single scattering of the sphere queue, and the multiple scattering considered as a high-order correction does not change the patterns. The numerical analysis reveals that the contrast of Mueller matrices＇ patterns will decrease with increase of the concentration of media and the distance from the incident point.     

Effect of absorption of multiply scattering media on the degree of residual polarization of backscattered light

The effect of absorption in a scattering medium on the degree of residual polarization of backscattered radiation is studied in the case of probing of multiply scattering media by a linearly polarized light. An approximate expression describing the dependence of the degree of residual linear polarization of the backscattered radiation on the optical characteristics of a multiply scattering medium is derived within the framework of the phenomenological approach, based on the concept of the distribution of the optical paths of partial components of the scattered optical field under the conditions of multiple scattering, and with the use of the ideas about the similarity of statistical moments of the multiply scattered optical fields. The cut-off of the partial components, characterized by a large value of the optical path, because of their absorption, results in a substantial increase of the degree of residual polarization for the bands of the selective absorption caused by the presence of chromophores in the scattering medium. The results of experiments with model scattering media (whole milk) and biological tissues (human skin in vivo) are presented.     

Polarized optical coherence imaging in turbid media by use of a Zeeman laser

A method that uses a Zeeman laser in conjunction with a Glan-Thompson analyzer to image an object in a turbid medium is proposed. A heterodyne signal is generated only when the scattering photons are partially polarized, and the spatial coherence is not seriously degraded after the signal propagates in the turbid medium. A system combining polarization discrimination with optical coherence detection to image the object in a scattering medium is successfully demonstrated. The medium is a solution of polystyrene microspheres measuring 1.072 mum in diameter suspended in distilled water contained in a 10-mm-thick quartz cuvette. The advantages of this optical system, including better selectivity of the weak partially polarized scattering photons and better imaging ability in higher-scattering media, are discussed.     

Determination of the depth-resolved Stokes parameters of light backscattered from turbid media by use of polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography

Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) was used to characterize completely the polarization state of light backscattered from turbid media. Using a low-coherence light source, one can determine the Stokes parameters of backscattered light as a function of optical path in turbid media. To demonstrate the application of this technique we determined the birefringence and the optical axis in fibrous tissue (rodent muscle) and in vivo rodent skin. PS-OCT has potentially useful applications in biomedical optics by imaging simultaneously the structural properties of turbid biological materials and their effects on the polarization state of backscattered light. This method may also find applications in material science for investigation of polarization properties (e.g., birefringence) in opaque media such as ceramics and crystals.     

Revisit to the symmetry relations in diffusely backscattered polarization patterns of turbid media

As there exists an inconsistency in claiming the symmetrical relations in the 16 Mueller matrix elements used to describe a turbid medium, the author restudies the symmetrical relationships between diffusely backscattered polarization patterns in isotropic turbid media and simulates all two-dimensional elements of diffusely backscattered Mueller matrix in both cases of Rayleigh and Mie scatterings using the doublescattering approximation and the Monte Carlo algorithm, respectively. The previous experimental observatious are compared with the numerically determined matrix elements, showing a good agreement in both double-scattering model and Monte Carlo simulation. The symmetrical relations between the Mueller matrix elements are clarified.     

Residual polarization of non-coherently backscattered linearly polarized light: the influence of the anisotropy parameter of the scattering medium

The effect of preservation of the residual polarization of backscattered light in the case of multiply scattered disordered media illumination by a linearly polarized plane wave is examined using the path-integral approach and Monte Carlo simulation. Disordered ensembles of non-interacting dielectric particles are considered as the model of scattering media. The influence of the anisotropy parameter of the scattering system on the degree of residual polarization is analysed. Experimental results obtained for various scattering systems at different wavelengths of illuminating light are in satisfactory agreement with the results of theoretical analysis and Monte Carlo simulation. The dependence of statistical properties of the polarization states of backscattered field partial components, such as probability distributions of ellipticity, on the anisotropy parameter is studied.     

偏振门用于对散射介质成像的蒙特卡罗模拟研究

通过蒙特卡罗模拟研究偏振光在散射介质中的传播,对通过散射介质的偏振光的强度分布进行模拟,分析了偏振门和空间滤波对成像的影响.模拟结果表明,对于Rayleigh散射体,偏振门与空间滤波可以减小散射光的影响,提高图像对比度,圆偏振光入射比线偏振光具有更高的对比度.对于Mie散射粒子,偏振门的作用有限,不同偏振光的结果差别不大.对双组分的散射介质也进行了模拟,偏振门在这种体系中仍能提高图像对比度.     

Measurements of diffuse backscattering Mueller matrices of turbid media

We report on the development of a method that records spatially dependent intensity patterns of polarized light that arise from illuminating a turbid media with a polarized laser beam and being diffusely backscattered. Our technique employs polarized light from a He-Ne laser () which is focused onto the surface of the scattering medium. A surface area of approximately 2×2 cm centered on the light input point is imaged through polarization analysis optics onto a CCD camera. The Mueller matrix is reconstructed by 49 intensity measurements with various orientations of polarizer and analyzer. The measured Mueller matrix of polystyrene spheres was compared with the theory result of incoherent scattering of light by spheres. The experimental and theory results are in excellent agreement. It appears that the azimuthal patterns of the Mueller matrix are determined by the symmetry of the turbid media.     

Random walk of polarized light in turbid media

We study the propagation of polarized light in turbid media as a random walk of vector photons. Both propagation and polarization directions of light are found to isotropize, following a power law of the number of scattering events. The characteristic length scale governing light isotropization and linear depolarization, the isotropization length , is derived using the exact Mie scattering for spherical particles. A simple relation is obtained for Rayleigh-Gans scatterers where is the transport mean free path and is the mean cosine of scattering angles.     

Anomalous polarization effects during light scattering in random media

The dependence of the intensity of light backscattered from a layer of a randomly inhomogeneous medium on the polarization of incident light and the size of scatterers has been investigated. The results of numerical simulation have demonstrated that the direction of rotation of the plane of polarization is different in systems with small- and large-scale inhomogeneities. It is shown for the first time that the dependence of the sign of the residual circular polarization on the size of scatterers can be observed in systems described by the Henyey-Greenstein phase function used in simulating biological tissues. A similar anomalous polarization effect, which consists in changing the direction of rotation of the plane of polarization of backscattered light with an increase in the scattering angle, is revealed in studying the coherent backscattering component. These polarization effects are observed in light backscattering from optically active media.     

Visualization of scattering media upon backscattering of a linearly polarized nonmonochromatic light

The method of polarization visualization of multiply scattering macroinhomogeneous media, based on analysis of the spatial distributions of polarization characteristics of a linearly polarized radiation backscattered from a medium, is discussed. The effect of optical characteristics of the medium and the scattering geometry on the quality of the images obtained in the case of visualization of an absorbing heterogeneity immersed into a multiply scattering medium is considered. The comparative analysis of the quality of formed images was performed with the use of different polarization characteristics of the backscattered radiation as a visualization parameter. The theoretical interpretation of the obtained experimental results is given within the framework of the phenomenological approach based on the concept of the distribution of the effective optical paths of partial components of the scattered optical field. To calculate the probability density of the effective optical paths, the statistical simulation method was used.     

Analysis of light propagation in highly scattering media by path-length-assigned Monte Carlo simulations

Numerical analysis of optical propagation in highly scattering media is investigated when light is normally incident to the surface and re-emerges backward from the same point. This situation corresponds to practical light scattering setups, such as in optical coherence tomography. The simulation uses the path-length-assigned Monte Carlo method based on an ellipsoidal algorithm. The spatial distribution of the scattered light is determined and the dependence of its width and penetration depth on the path-length is found. The backscattered light is classified into three types, in which ballistic, snake, and diffuse photons are dominant.     

Polarization of light and its use in various problems of optics of scattering media

As light passes through scattering media, certain specific features of the polarization of radiation manifest themselves. The paper presents materials on this problem that were obtained at the Institute of Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus over recent decades. Results of experimental investigations of media that model real objects are described for the case where the dimensionless optical parameters of media and objects coincide. A method for determining the position of a diffuse light source in the atmosphere via predominant oscillations of the light vector of scattered radiation for two directions of observation is proposed. The structure of aerosol formations (smokes, dust and liquid-droplet and crystalline clouds) is interpreted based on the character of depolarization of laser radiation sounding atmosphere. The polarization of laser radiation passing through a turbid medium and reflected from it is studied. Practical applications are proposed. Fundamentals of an applied vector theory of radiation transfer, which made it possible to considerably expand notions of light scattering in strongly turbid media, are given. Studies of light propagation in encapsulated liquid crystals, which are used for solving of a large number of problems, are described. In these objects, ordinary and extraordinary rays that arise in crystals under electric voltage can give rise to a wave that is attenuated to a different degree and whose phase and polarization characteristics are varying.     

Influence of the order of the constituent basis matrices on the Mueller matrix decomposition-derived polarization parameters in complex turbid media such as biological tissues

The influence of the multiplication order of the constituent basis matrices on the Mueller matrix decomposition-derived polarization parameters in complex tissue-like turbid media exhibiting simultaneous scattering and polarization effects are investigated. A polarization sensitive Monte Carlo (MC) simulation model was used to generate Mueller matrices from turbid media exhibiting simultaneous linear birefringence, optical activity and multiple scattering effects. Mueller matrix decomposition was performed with different selected multiplication orders of the constituent basis matrices, which were further analyzed to derive quantitative individual polarization medium properties. The results show that for turbid medium having weak diattenuation (differential attenuation of two orthogonal polarization states), the decomposition-derived polarization parameters are independent of the multiplication order. Importantly, the values for the extracted polarization parameters were found to be in excellent agreement with the controlled inputs, showing self-consistency in inverse decomposition analysis and successful decoupling of the individual polarization effects. These results were corroborated further by selected experimental results from phantoms having optical (scattering and polarization) properties similar to those used in the MC model. Results from tissue polarimetry confirm that the magnitude of diattenuation is generally lower compared to other polarization effects, so that the demonstrated self-consistency of the decomposition formalism with respect to the potential ambiguity of ordering of the constituent matrices should hold in biological applications.     

浑浊介质中图像对比度与成像方式的关系

浑浊介质中图像对比度的物理增强方法一直是研究热点, 目前学者们提出的距离选通成像、偏振差分成像和偏振距离选通成像均能提高图像的对比度, 但提高效果与成像距离的关系尚不明确. 本文分别利用以上三种成像方式及普通强度成像对处于不同浓度浑浊介质中的目标进行成像, 研究了图像强度和对比度随成像距离的变化情况. 结果表明: 从滤除的散射光强来看, 偏振距离选通成像最优, 而偏振差分成像在成像距离较远时优于距离选通成像; 三种成像方式滤除的散射光强值趋于稳定的阈值距离各不相同; 对比度改变相同量时, 偏振距离选通成像对应成像距离的变化量最大, 偏振差分成像次之, 强度成像最小, 且均与散射系数成反比. 本文对浑浊介质成像效果及机理的分析, 对进一步提高浑浊介质中目标的分辨及识别具有重要意义.