Polarized light propagation through tissue and tissue phantoms

We show that standard tissue phantoms can be used to mimic the intensity and polarization properties of tissue. Polarized light propagation through biologic tissue is typically studied using tissue phantoms consisting of dilute aqueous suspensions of microspheres. The dilute phantoms can empirically match tissue polarization and intensity properties. One discrepancy between the dilute phantoms and tissue exist: common tissue phantoms, such as dilute Intralipid and dilute 1-m-diameter polystyrene microsphere suspensions, depolarize linearly polarized light more quickly than circularly polarized light. In dense tissue, however, where scatterers are often located in close proximity to one another, circularly polarized light is depolarized similar to or more quickly than linearly polarized light. We also demonstrate that polarized light propagates differently in dilute versus densely packed microsphere suspensions, which may account for the differences seen between polarized light propagation in common dilute tissue phantoms versus dense biologic tissue.

Polarized light propagation through tissue and tissue phantoms Conference Paper