This research study purpose is to design an optical transillumination based system and explore the potential of imaging enhancement, utilizing various contrast agents and polarimetry. This novel design can be used to study the polarimetric image characteristics of an optical phantom which replicates the nature of biological tissue, determining the morphological and metabolic information.
Linearly polarized light was used to probe the phantom under test. Subsurface structure of the phantom was detected, with contrast agents like sugar solution, isopropyl alcohol and insulin solution. Co-polarized images provided results to affirm efficacy of the system design and principle adopted. A significant increase in the signal detected was observed with the increased contrast agent concentration, as an outcome of this study. Even under increased scattering conditions, the designed system was superior enough to provide enhanced detection.
Polarization difference images have exhibited that the contrast, defined as signal to background ratio, can be augmented by multiple folds in comparison with just co-polarized images. Classification of the materials based on the results would be effective to learn about the embedded tissue structure and its optical characteristics. It would be interesting to apply advanced image processing algorithms that can reveal more information on this data. The whole study gives an additional dimension to optical imaging as significant platform with applications in the medical diagnostic arena.