Circular polarization biomicroscopy: a method for determining human corneal stromal lamellar organization in vivo

The theory of polarization biomicroscopy is explored using Stokes vectors and Mueller matrices. It is established that circular polarization can be used to simultaneously detect birefringent elements at any orientation unlike orientation‐sensitive techniques using linear polarized light alone. A met...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ophthalmic & physiological optics Vol. 27; no. 3; pp. 256 - 264
Main Author: Misson, Gary P.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.05.2007
Blackwell
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biological and medical sciences
biomicroscopy
circular polarized light
Collagen - ultrastructure
collagen lamellae
cornea
Cornea - physiology
Corneal Stroma - ultrastructure
corneal stromal structure
Eye and associated structures. Visual pathways and centers. Vision
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Male
Microscopy, Polarization - methods
Middle Aged
Models, Biological
Mueller matrices
Ocular Physiological Phenomena
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
Biomicroscopy
Human
Polarization
Cornea
Organization
corneal stromal structure
Stroma
Method
Polarized light
In vivo
Mueller matrices
collagen lamellae
Collagen
Ophthalmology
Structure
circular polarized light
ISSN:0275-5408, 1475-1313
Online Access:Get full text
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Description
Summary:The theory of polarization biomicroscopy is explored using Stokes vectors and Mueller matrices. It is established that circular polarization can be used to simultaneously detect birefringent elements at any orientation unlike orientation‐sensitive techniques using linear polarized light alone. A method of biomicroscopy using circular polarized light is described and tested in a physical model. The method is then used to investigate the lamellar structure of human corneas in vivo in pairs of eyes of 38 subjects. An approximate confocal elliptic/hyperbolic distribution of stromal fibrils, presumed to be collagen, is clearly identified within central and intermediate areas of the cornea. All subjects tested demonstrate approximate mirror symmetry between pairs of eyes typically with a preferred orientation of central fibrils at approximately 15° to the horizontal in a superotemporal–inferonasal direction.
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ISSN:0275-5408
1475-1313
DOI:10.1111/j.1475-1313.2007.00482.x