Experimental validation of depolarizing Mueller matrix model via ex vivo colon samples

Abstract

Experimental validation of a previously reported depolarizing Mueller matrix model is crucial to understanding the light-tissue interactions and the morphological alterations originating in malignant tissue zones in terms of their optical properties. This manuscript is a continuation of a previously reported case study, where a theoretical model was introduced with an additional Monte Carlo simulation. The main aim of this study is to empirically validate both theory and modelling. Once extracted from an experimental Mueller matrix via symmetric decomposition, the polarimetric quantities were compared with the corresponding parameters previously determined from polarized Monte Carlo simulations. Our results were obtained from an ex vivo colon sample and indicate a potential capability to provide supplementary polarimetric data to physicians and the gold standard histopathology analysis.