Deep subsurface imaging in tissues using spectral and polarization filtering

Deep subsurface imaging in tissues is demonstrated by employing both spectral and polarization discrimination of the backscattered photons. This technique provides enhancement in the visibility of subsurface structures via processing of the depolarized images obtained using polarized illumination at different wavelengths. The experimental results demonstrate detection and imaging of a high-scattering object located up to 1.5-cm beneath the surface of a host chicken tissue used as the model medium. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America.