title: Analysis of the origin of atypical scanning laser polarimetry patterns by polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the physical origin of atypical scanning laser polarimetry (SLP) patterns. To compare polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) scans to SLP images. To present a method to obtain pseudo-SLP images by PS-OCT that are free of atypical artifacts.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-one eyes of healthy subjects, subjects with suspected glaucoma, and patients with glaucoma were imaged by SLP (GDx VCC) and a prototype spectral domain PS-OCT system. The PS-OCT system acquires three-dimensional (3D) datasets of intensity, retardation, and optic axis orientation simultaneously within 3 seconds. B-scans of intensity and retardation and en face maps of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) retardation were derived from the 3D PS-OCT datasets. Results were compared with those obtained by SLP.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-two eyes showed atypical retardation patterns, and 19 eyes showed normal patterns. From the 22 atypical eyes, 15 showed atypical patterns in both imaging modalities, five were atypical only in SLP images, and two were atypical only in PS-OCT images. In most (15 of 22) atypical cases, an increased penetration of the probing beam into the birefringent sclera was identified as the source of atypical patterns. In such cases, the artifacts could be eliminated in PS-OCT images by depth segmentation and exclusion of scleral signals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PS-OCT provides deeper insight into the contribution of different fundus layers to SLP images. Increased light penetration into the sclera can distort SLP retardation patterns of the RNFL.
authors.affiliation: Center for Biomedical Engineering and Physics, General Hospital and Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Erich
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Götzinger
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pircher
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Baumann
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hirn
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vass
authors.forename: Christoph K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Hitzenberger
mesh_terms: D016477:Artifacts; D001718:Birefringence; D003941:Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology*; D009798:Ocular Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis; D009898:Optic Disk / Q000473:pathology*; D009901:Optic Nerve Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D012590:Sclera; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence