title: Assessing the phase retardation in corneal tissues using a femtosecond laser.
abstract: We developed and validated a versatile test method for precise quantification of phase retardation in corneal tissues using a femtosecond laser. It is based on an experimental system for direct measurement of corneal phase rotation due to corneal birefringence effects using a dual-polarizer, computer-controlled, femtosecond laser design. It also includes a comprehensive analytical model using Jones matrices. The test method presented is used for quantification of phase retardation in corneal tissues by employing the experimental data obtained from corneal phase rotation measurements and using analytical model assessments. The experimental and theoretical results obtained, and thus, the system's high accuracy and repeatability potential for assessing the corneal phase retardation are validated using control phase retardation evaluation.
authors.affiliation: Optical Therapeutics and Medical Nanophotonics Laboratory, Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland 20993, USA.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Calhoun
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Weiblinger
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beylin
authors.forename: Ilko K
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Ilev
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003315:Cornea / Q000166:cytology*; D007834:Lasers; D055620:Optical Phenomena; D015203:Reproducibility of Results