Comparison of polarized-light propagation in biological tissue and phantoms

We demonstrate significant differences in the propagation of polarized light through biological tissue compared with two common tissue phantoms. Depolarization of linearly and circularly polarized light was measured versus propagation distance by use of two independent measurement techniques. The measurements were performed on adipose and myocardial tissues and on tissue phantoms that consisted of polystyrene microsphere suspensions and Intralipid. The results indicate that, in contrast with results obtained in tissue phantoms, linearly polarized light survives through longer propagation distances than circularly polarized light in biological tissue. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America.