title: Retinal imaging with polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography and adaptive optics.
abstract: Various layers of the retina are well known to alter the polarization state of light. Such changes in polarization may be a sensitive indicator of tissue structure and function, and as such have gained increased clinical attention. Here we demonstrate a polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) system that incorporates adaptive optics (AO) in the sample arm and a single line scan camera in the detection arm. We quantify the benefit of AO for PS-OCT in terms of signal-to-noise, lateral resolution, and speckle size. Double pass phase retardation per unit depth values ranging from 0.25 degrees/microm to 0.65 degrees/microm were found in the birefringent nerve fiber layer at 6 degrees eccentricity, superior to the fovea, with the highest values being noticeably higher than previously reported with PS-OCT around the optic nerve head. Moreover, fast axis orientation and degree of polarization uniformity measurements made with AO-PS-OCT demonstrate polarization scrambling in the retinal pigment epithelium at the highest resolution reported to date.
authors.affiliation: Indiana University, School of Optometry, Bloomington IN 47405, USA. bcense@indiana.edu
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cense
authors.forename: Weihua
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Jeffrey M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Steven M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Ravi S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Jonnal
authors.forename: Mircea
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mujat
authors.forename: B Hyle
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Johannes F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: de Boer
authors.forename: Donald T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D001718:Birefringence; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D009885:Ophthalmology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D009898:Optic Disk / Q000473:pathology*; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D012029:Refraction, Ocular; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology*; D055213:Retinal Pigment Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*