Texture analysis applied to polarimetric images of healthy in vivo murine skin

Abstract

The imaging and digital processing of anisotropic optical properties of in vivo skin may be helpful in the assessment of its heterogeneous anatomy and physiological functioning. The interaction between polarized light and this organ provides information about the structural order beneath the epidermal layer. However, penetration depth is limited by optical absorption and scattering that are related to local skin characteristics such as pigment density, connective tissue organization, and cutaneous layer thickness. In this work, in vivo healthy skin of a murine model was analyzed using Mueller imaging polarimetry. A gray-level co-occurrence matrix analysis of diattenuation, birefringence, and depolarization measures in four different skin locations showed texture properties that can be used to distinguish local physiology.