title: Fibre orientation contrast for depth-resolved identification of structural interfaces in birefringent tissue.
abstract: Incorporation of polarimetric sensitivity into optical coherence tomography can provide additional image contrast when structures of interest are optically anisotropic (e.g., fibrous tissue). We present a generalized technique based on polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography to detect changes in depth-resolved fibre orientation and thus increase image contrast in multiple-layered birefringent tissues. A high contrast B-scan image of collagen fibre orientation is shown for a porcine intervertebral disc cartilage specimen that exhibited low backscattering intensity contrast. Interfaces in the annulus fibrosus identified using depth-resolved fibre orientation allowed quantification of lamellae thickness. Moreover, the technique detects changes in fibre orientation without intense processing needed to effectively quantify tissue retardation and diattenuation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station #C0800, Austin, TX 78712-1084, USA. natekemp@gmail.com
authors.forename: Nate J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Kemp
authors.forename: Jesung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Haitham N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Zaatari
authors.forename: H Grady
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Rylander
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Milner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001718:Birefringence; D002356:Cartilage / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007403:Intervertebral Disc / Q000473:pathology; D008027:Light; D008859:Microscopy, Polarization; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D012984:Software; D013552:Swine; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*