Out-of-plane Stokes imaging polarimeter for early skin cancer diagnosis

Published

July 1, 2012

Author(s)

P. Ghassemi, Paul Lemaillet, Thomas Germer, J. W. Shupp, S. Venna, M. E. Boisvert, K. E. Flanagan, M. H. Jordan, J. C. Ramella-Roman

Abstract

Optimal treatment of skin cancer before it metastasizes depends critically on early diagnosis and treatment. Imaging spectroscopy and polarized remittance have been utilized in the past for diagnostic purposes, but valuable information can be also obtained from the analysis of skin roughness. For this purpose, we have developed an out-of-plane hemispherical imaging Stokes polarimeter designed to monitor potential skin neoplasia based on a roughness assessment of the epidermis. Several clinical tests have been done on three groups of patients with benign nevi, a melanocytic nevus, and normal skin. Captured images were analyzed and polarization properties of skin samples are presented in terms of the principal angle of the polarization ellipse and the degree of polarization. In the former case, there is no differentiation between different groups of patients. In the latter, separation between different skin samples for various incidence angles is observed.

Citation

Journal of Biomedical Optics

Volume

17

Issue

7

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

benign nevi, melanocytic nevus, rough surface scattering, Stokes imaging polarimeter

Citation

Ghassemi, P. , Lemaillet, P. , Germer, T. , Shupp, J. , Venna, S. , Boisvert, M. , Flanagan, K. , Jordan, M. and Ramella-Roman, J. (2012), Out-of-plane Stokes imaging polarimeter for early skin cancer diagnosis, Journal of Biomedical Optics, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=910098 (Accessed October 7, 2025)