Volume 11, Issue 12 e201800036
FULL ARTICLE

Monte Carlo simulation of polarization-sensitive second-harmonic generation and propagation in biological tissue

K. L. Barry Fung

Corresponding Author

K. L. Barry Fung

Division of Engineering Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Correspondence

K. L. Barry Fung, Division of Engineering Science, University of Toronto, 40 Saint George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2E4, Canada.

Email: [email protected]

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Masood Samim

Masood Samim

Division of Biophysics and Bioimaging, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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Adam Gribble

Adam Gribble

Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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Virginijus Barzda

Virginijus Barzda

Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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I. Alex Vitkin

I. Alex Vitkin

Division of Biophysics and Bioimaging, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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First published: 04 July 2018
Citations: 7
Funding information Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Grant/Award Numbers: CPG-134752, CHRPJ462842-14; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Grant/Award Number: RGPIN-2017-06923

Abstract

Polarization-sensitive second harmonic generation (p-SHG) is a nonlinear optical microscopy technique that has shown great promise in biomedicine, such as in detecting changes in the collagen ultrastructure of the tumor microenvironment. However, the complex nature of light-tissue interactions and the heterogeneity of biological samples pose challenges in creating an analytical and experimental quantification platform for tissue characterization via p-SHG. We present a Monte Carlo (MC) p-SHG simulation model based on double Stokes-Mueller polarimetry for the investigation of nonlinear light-tissue interaction. The MC model predictions are compared with experimental measurements of second-order nonlinear susceptibility component ratio and degree of polarization (DOP) in rat-tail collagen. The observed trends in the behavior of these parameters as a function of tissue thickness, as well as the overall extent of agreement between MC and experimental results, are discussed. High sensitivities of the susceptibility ratio and DOP are observed for the varying tissue thickness on the incoming fundamental light propagation pathway.

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