Development and calibration of an automated Mueller matrix polarization system for skin lesion differentiation Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • In this paper, we describe the use of the full sixteen element Mueller matrix to differentiate between surface lesions on the skin, as an eventual noninvasive diagnostic technique for detection of certain types of skin cancers. A semi-automated system using a polarized light beam and a computer controlled CCD camera was developed to collect 16 polarization images of a sample and to calculate the complete Mueller matrix in near real time. The system was initially calibrated and the accuracy and precision were evaluated with a mirror and polarizer. This study also includes in vivo results from normal skin, a benign nevus, and a known cancerous lesion acquired from a single Sinclair swine. Differences were observed between the Mueller matrices of all three in vivo cases. These preliminary results demonstrate the potential for using an automated polarization imaging apparatus for eventual clinical cancer diagnosis.

published proceedings

  • OPTICAL TOMOGRAPHY AND SPECTROSCOPY OF TISSUE IV

author list (cited authors)

  • Hill, A. R., Cameron, B. D., Chung, J. R., Baba, J. S., & Cote, G. L.

citation count

  • 8

complete list of authors

  • Hill, AR||Cameron, BD||Chung, JR||Baba, JS||Cote, GL

editor list (cited editors)

  • Chance, B., Alfano, R. R., Tromberg, B. J., Tamura, M., & Sevick-Muraca, E. M.

publication date

  • January 2001