title: Depth probing of diffuse tissues controlled with elliptically polarized light.
abstract: Polarization gating is a popular technique in biomedical optics. It is widely used to inspect the surface of the tissues (under colinear or cocircular detection) or instead to probe the volume (cross-linear detection), without information on the probed depth. Elliptical polarization is introduced to explore the possibility of probing diffuse tissues at selective depths. A thorough Monte Carlo simulation study shows complete correlation between the probed depths and the ellipticity of the polarized light, for a medium with known optical properties. Within a wide range of optical parameters, a linear relation between the backscattered intensity and the depth extension of the probed volume was found whatever the polarization used, but with a controlled extension depending on the ellipticity.
authors.affiliation: Institut Fresnel, CNRS, Aix-Marseille Université, Ecole Centrale Marseille, Campus de Saint Jérôme, 13013 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rehn
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Planat-Chrétien
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Dinten
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Deumié
authors.forename: Anabela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: da Silva
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D012867:Skin / Q000737:chemistry; D013552:Swine; D014599:Uterus / Q000737:chemistry