Polarization gating based on Mueller matrices

© 2017 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). We present mathematical formulas generalizing polarization gating (PG) techniques. PG refers to a collection of imaging methods based on the combination of different controlled polarization channels. In particular, we show how using the measured Mueller matrix (MM) of a sample, a widespread number of PG configurations can be evaluated just from analytical expressions based on the MM coefficients. We also show the interest of controlling the helicity of the states of polarization used for PG-based metrology, as this parameter has an impact in the image contrast of samples. In addition, we highlight the interest of combining PG techniques with tools of data analysis related to theMM formalism, such as the well-knownMM decompositions. The method discussed in this work is illustrated with the results of polarimetric measurements done on artificial phantoms and real ex-vivo tissues.