Angular optimization for cancer identification with circularly polarized light

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that circularly polarized light scattering can effectively differentiate cancerous tissues from healthy tissues based on polarization changes caused by structural differences in cell nuclei.

Contribution

The paper experimentally verifies the potential of using circular polarization scattering to identify cancer tissues, highlighting the influence of optical configurations on resolution.

Findings

Significant polarization differences between cancerous and healthy tissues.

Step-like polarization behavior correlates with tissue type.

Optical arrangement affects resolution and detection capability.

Abstract

Depolarization of circularly polarized light scattered from biological tissues depends on structural changes in cell nuclei, which can provide valuable information for differentiating cancer tissues concealed in healthy tissues. In this study, we experimentally verified the possibility of cancer identification using scattering of circularly polarized light. We investigated the polarization of light scattered from a sliced biological tissue with various optical configurations. A significant difference between circular polarizations of light scattered from cancerous and healthy tissues is observed, which is sufficient to distinguish a cancerous region. The line-scanning experiments along a region incorporating healthy and cancerous parts indicate step-like behaviors in the degree of circular polarization corresponding to the state of tissues, whether cancerous or normal. An oblique and perpendicular incidence induces different resolutions for identifying cancerous tissues, which indicates that the optical arrangement can be selected according to the priority of resolution.