Characterization of the polarization properties of biological tissues with fiber-based Mueller-matrix optical coherence tomography

Abstract

A fast scanning fiber-based system of Mueller-matrix optical coherence tomography was built to characterize the polarization properties of biological tissues with high spatial resolution. A polarization modulator with its fast-axis oriented at 45° in the source arm of the Michelson interferometer, driven by a sinusoidal wave, was used to continuously modulate the incident polarization states of both the sample and the reference arms. Two detection channels were used to detect the horizontal and vertical polarization components of the interference signals, which were used to calculate the roundtrip Jones matrix of the sample. The roundtrip polarization parameters of the sample were calculated from the measured Jones matrix. The system was successfully tested for both standard optical polarization elements and various types of biological samples.