Matthieu Dubreuil

Mueller matrix polarimetry for improved liver fibrosis diagnosis

An experimental Mueller matrix polarimeter is used to quantify human liver fibrosis by measuring retardance and depolarization of thin biopsies. The former parameter is sensitive to fibrillar collagen, the latter is specifically sensitive to fibrillar collagen around blood vessels, which is not significant for liver fibrosis diagnosis. By using depolarization like a filter, retardance distribution enables distinguishing between disease stages and limits the high degree of observer discrepancy.

Snapshot Mueller matrix polarimeter by wavelength polarization coding.

We present a new, to the best of our knowledge, experimental configuration of Mueller matrix polarimeter based on wavelength polarization coding. This is a compact and fast technique to study polarization phenomena. Our theoretical approach, the necessity to correct systematic errors and our experimental results are presented. The feasibility of the technique is tested on vacuum and on a linear polarizer.

Robustness against attacks of dual polarization encryption using the Stokes–Mueller formalism

The security of our recently proposed dual polarization encryption scheme of images is evaluated by numerical simulations. This consists of testing the resistance of the scheme against brute force, known-plaintext, chosen-plaintext and video sequence attacks. While some attacks are ineffective (brute force, video sequence) others are effective (known-plaintext, chosen-plaintext), but only under certain assumptions. An optimization of the setup, which is based on a regular rotation of polarization optics angles (polarizers, wave plates), is proposed associating the use of a high dynamic range for the key image, or the use of a phase-only spatial light modulator in the target and in the key image channel. The possibility of the attacker decrypting an unknown image is thus strongly reduced. The precision required for optical specifications is also evaluated, in order to ensure a good decryption for an authorized user.

Systematic errors specific to a snapshot Mueller matrix polarimeter

Systematic errors specific to a snapshot Mueller matrix polarimeter are studied. Their origins and effects are highlighted, and solutions for correction and stabilization are proposed. The different effects induced by them are evidenced by experimental results acquired with a given setup and theoretical simulations carried out for more general cases. We distinguish the errors linked to some imperfection of elements in the experimental setup from those linked to the sample under study.

Time-resolved switching analysis of a ferroelectric liquid crystal by snapshot Mueller matrix polarimetry.

An experimental snapshot Mueller matrix polarimeter based on wavelength polarization coding is used to get a time-resolved description of electric-field-induced fast transition within a ferroelectric liquid-crystal cell. The parameters extracted from experimental Mueller matrices are linked to the molecule director distribution to further determine the average trajectory and the collective behavior of these molecules while they switch over to another state.

100 kHz Mueller polarimeter in reflection configuration.

A new setup is proposed to perform high-speed Mueller polarimetry by spectral coding of polarization in a reflection configuration. The system uses a swept laser source and a photodiode, which results in a simple optical setup that allows measurement of Mueller matrices at 100 kHz repetition rate. A special focus is made on the influence of the cube beam splitter polarimetric response, which is essential to measurements in a reflection configuration. The instrument is first validated on reference samples for single-point measurements, and the effect of a proper system calibration is also demonstrated on polarimetric images. The device is intended to be implemented within a laser scanning microscope to perform multimodal imaging (confocal/multiphoton and Mueller polarimetry).

Evaluation of area-based collagen scoring by nonlinear microscopy in chronic hepatitis C-induced liver fibrosis.

In this paper we analyze a fibrosis scoring method based on measurement of the fibrillar collagen area from second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy images of unstained histological slices from human liver biopsies. The study is conducted on a cohort of one hundred chronic hepatitis C patients with intermediate to strong Metavir and Ishak stages of liver fibrosis. We highlight a key parameter of our scoring method to discriminate between high and low fibrosis stages. Moreover, according to the intensity histograms of the SHG images and simple mathematical arguments, we show that our area-based method is equivalent to an intensity-based method, despite saturation of the images. Finally we propose an improvement of our scoring method using very simple image processing tools.

Two-channel snapshot Mueller matrix polarimeter

We describe a new setup for a snapshot Mueller matrix polarimeter (SMMP). It relies on the separation and orthogonal polarization of two light beams by a Wollaston prism located at the setup output. The simultaneous treatment of the two spectra allows an enhancement of accuracy for real-time measurements through reduction of the effects caused by random noise and systematic errors. Moreover, it gives insight into the nonuniform spectral response of the medium under study. Experimental results support the feasibility of the proposed technique.

Measuring the scattering coefficient of turbid media from two-photon microscopy

In this paper, we propose a new and simple method based on two-photon excitation fluorescence (TPEF) microscopy to measure the scattering coefficient µ(s) of thick turbid media. We show, from Monte Carlo simulations, that µ(s) can be derived from the axial profile of the ratio of the TPEF signals epi-collected by the confocal and the non-descanned ports of a scanning microscope, independently of the anisotropy factor g and of the absorption coefficient µ(a) of the medium. The method is validated experimentally on tissue-mimicking optical phantoms, and is shown to have potential for imaging the scattering coefficient of heterogeneous media.

Scanning Mueller polarimetric microscopy.

A full Mueller polarimeter was implemented on a commercial laser-scanning microscope. The new polarimetric microscope is based on high-speed polarization modulation by spectral coding using a wavelength-swept laser as a source. Calibration as well as estimation of the measurement errors of the device are reported. The acquisition of Mueller images at the speed of a scanning microscope is demonstrated for the first time. Mueller images of mineral and biological samples illustrate this new polarimetric microscopy.