Slope-based segmentation of articular cartilage using polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography phase retardation image

Xin Zhou; Myeong Jin Ju; Lin Huang; Shuo Tang

doi:10.1117/1.JBO.24.3.036006

14 March 2019 Slope-based segmentation of articular cartilage using polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography phase retardation image

Xin Zhou, Myeong Jin Ju, Lin Huang, Shuo Tang

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Journal of Biomedical Optics, Vol. 24, Issue 3, 036006 (March 2019). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.24.3.036006

Abstract

A segmentation method based on phase retardation measurements from polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) is developed to differentiate the structural zones of articular cartilage. The organization of collagen matrix in articular cartilage varies over the different structural zones, generating different tissue birefringence. Analyzing the slope of the accumulated phase retardation at different depths can detect the variation in tissue birefringence and be used to segment the structural zones. The method is validated on phantoms composed of layers of different materials. Articular cartilage samples from adult swine are segmented with the method. The characteristics in each segmented zone are also examined by histology and high-resolution second-harmonic generation imaging, showing distinctive properties that match with the anatomical structure of articular cartilage. The segmentation algorithm is also applied on PS-OCT images acquired at multiple illumination angles, where the angular dependence of tissue birefringence in the deep zone is detected. This method offers a noninvasive imaging approach to differentiating the structural zones of articular cartilage, as well as a quantification approach based on the phase retardation measurements of PS-OCT. This method has great potential in studying depth-related progression of cartilage degeneration.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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Xin Zhou, Myeong Jin Ju, Lin Huang, and Shuo Tang "Slope-based segmentation of articular cartilage using polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography phase retardation image," Journal of Biomedical Optics 24(3), 036006 (14 March 2019). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.24.3.036006

Received: 18 September 2018; Accepted: 2 January 2019; Published: 14 March 2019

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