Optical Diagnostics in Human Diseases

Optical technologies provide unique opportunities for the diagnosis of various pathological disorders. The range of biophotonics applications in clinical practice is considerably wide given that the optical properties of biological tissues are subject to significant changes during disease progression. Due to the small size of studied objects (from μm to mm) and despite some minimum restrictions (low-intensity light is used), these technologies have great diagnostic potential both as an additional tool and in cases of separate use, for example, to assess conditions affecting microcirculatory bed and tissue viability. This Special Issue presents topical articles by researchers engaged in the development of new methods and devices for optical non-invasive diagnostics in various fields of medicine. Several studies in this Special Issue demonstrate new information relevant to surgical procedures, especially in oncology and gynecology. Two articles are dedicated to the topical problem of breast cancer early detection, including during surgery. One of the articles is devoted to urology, namely to the problem of chronic or recurrent episodic urethral pain. Several works describe the studies in otolaryngology and dentistry. One of the studies is devoted to diagnosing liver diseases. A number of articles contribute to the studying of the alterations caused by diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. The results of all the presented articles reflect novel innovative research and emerging ideas in optical non-invasive diagnostics aimed at their wider translation into clinical practice

Investigation of the Retinal Biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease and Atherosclerosis Using Hyperspectral Images

Le fait que l'oeil puisse être visualisé de manière non invasive ouvre des possibilités de mesure de biomarqueurs pour le diagnostic de conditions à long terme. Selon de nombreuses études, plusieurs maladies cardiovasculaires et neurodégénératives telles que la maladie d’Alzheimer (AD) et l’athérosclérose (ATH) se manifestent dans la rétine sous forme de modifications morphologiques pathologiques et / ou vasculaires. Des méthodes d'imagerie oculaire en deux dimensions et des techniques de tomographie par cohérence optique (OCT) en trois dimensions ont été développées pour fournir des descriptions des structures rétiniennes. Cependant, les images acquises par ces techniques permettent principalement de mesurer les caractéristiques spatiales et pas la variance relative de l’intensité des pixels sur différentes longueurs d’onde, de sorte que d’importantes caractéristiques liées aux tissus peuvent encore rester à découvrir. Dans cette étude, une caméra rétinienne métabolique hyperspectrale (MHRC) a été utilisée pour permettre l'acquisition d'une série d'images rétiniennes obtenues à des longueurs d'onde spécifiques couvrant le spectre du visible au proche infrarouge (NIR). Dans cette technique, le facteur de transmission, l'absorption et la diffusion de la lumière sont reflétés dans le spectre de la lumière émise par le tissu. Par conséquent, non seulement les caractéristiques spatiales communes mais également les « signatures spectrales » de biomolécules pourraient être révélées. Cela aide à trouver une plus grande variété de caractéristiques spatiales / spectrales pour une investigation plus précise des biomarqueurs rétiniens des maladies. En ce qui concerne les coûts et les limites associés aux diagnostics actuels de l’AD et de l’ATH, le but de cette thèse était d’analyser le contenu en informations d’images rétiniennes hyperspectrales riches en données dans le but de caractériser des informations discriminantes cachées liées aux tissus afin d’identifier des biomarqueurs possibles de ces deux maladies. À cette fin, une combinaison de caractéristiques vasculaires et de mesures de textures spatiales-spectrales ont été extraites de différentes régions anatomiques de la rétine. Dans le contexte de la maladie d'Alzheimer, des images rétiniennes de 20 cas présentant une altération cognitive et de 26 cas normaux cognitivement ont été acquises à l'aide de la caméra MHRC. Le statut amyloïde cérébral a été déterminé à partir de lectures binaires effectuées par un panel de 3 experts noteurs ayant participé à des études de TEP au 18F-Florbetaben. Des caractéristiques de l’image rétinienne ont été calculées, notamment la tortuosité et le diamètre des vaisseaux, ainsi que les mesures de textures spatiales-spectrales sur les artérioles, les veinules et le tissu environnant. Les veinules rétiniennes des sujets amyloïdes positifs (Aβ +) ont présenté une tortuosité moyenne plus élevée par rapport aux sujets amyloïdes négatifs (Aβ-). Le diamètre artériolaire des sujets Aβ + s'est avéré supérieur à celui des sujets Aβ- dans une zone adjacente à la tête du nerf optique. De plus, une différence significative entre les mesures de texture construites sur les artérioles rétiniennes et leurs régions adjacentes a été observée chez les sujets Aβ + par rapport aux Aβ-. Dans le contexte de l'ATH, 60 images rétiniennes de 30 ATH probables sur le plan clinique et 30 cas de contrôle ont été acquises. Les critères d'inclusion pour les sujets souffrant d'ATH comprenaient: l'infarctus du myocarde; angiographie coronaire montrant au moins une sténose coronaire (plus de 50%); et / ou une angioplastie coronaire; et /ou pontage coronaire. Les artérioles rétiniennes des sujets ATH ont montré un rétrécissement significatif par rapport aux sujets témoins. En outre, une différence significative entre les mesures de textures d'images prises sur les artérioles et les veinules rétiniennes et leurs régions adjacentes a été trouvée entre les sujets ATH et les sujets témoins. Nos études transversales ont montré que l’analyse hyperspectrale des images rétiniennes pouvait discerner avec une précision acceptable l’AD et l’ATH des sujets témoins correspondants.----------ABSTRACT The fact that eye can be visualized non-invasively, opens up possibilities to measure biomarkers for diagnosis of long-term conditions. A significant body of literature has demonstrated that many of the neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and atherosclerosis (ATH) manifest themselves in retina as pathological and/or vasculature morphological changes. Methods for two-dimensional fundus imaging and techniques for three-dimensional optical coherence tomography (OCT) have been developed to provide descriptions of retinal structures. However, images acquired by these techniques mostly allow for measuring the spatial characteristics of the tissue and lack of the relative variances across differing wavelengths, thus important spectral features may remain uncovered. In this study, a Metabolic Hyperspectral Retinal Camera (MHRC) was used that permits the acquisition of a series of retinal images obtained at specific wavelengths covering the visible and near infrared (NIR) spectrum. In this technique, light transmittance, absorption, and scatter are reflected in the spectrum of light emitted from the tissue. Use of MHRC in this study was aimed to extract not only the common spatial features but also “spectral signatures” of biomolecules in retinal tissue. Regarding the costs and limitations of the current diagnostic methods for AD and ATH, the purpose of this thesis was to analyze the information content of data-rich hyperspectral retinal images to characterize tissue-related discriminatory information to identify possible biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease and atherosclerosis. To this end, a combination of vascular features and spatial/spectral texture measures were extracted from different anatomical regions of the retina. In the context of AD, retinal images from 20 cognitively impaired and 26 cognitively unimpaired cases were acquired using MHRC. The cerebral amyloid status was determined from binary reads by a panel of three expert raters on 18F-Florbetaben PET studies. Our approach did not aim to visualize directly Aβ deposits in the retina but rather to determine a likely amyloid status based on sets of retinal image features highly correlated with the cerebral amyloid status. Retinal image features were calculated including vessels’ tortuosity and diameter. Spatial/spectral texture measures over arterioles, venules, and tissue around were also extracted. Retinal venules of amyloid positive subjects (Aβ+) showed a higher mean tortuosity compared to the amyloid negative (Aβ-) subjects. Arteriolar diameter of Aβ+ subjects was found to be higher than the Aβ- subjects in a zone adjacent to the optical nerve head. Furthermore, a significant difference between spatial/spectral texture measures built over retinal arterioles and surrounding tissues were observed in Aβ+ subjects when compared to the Aβ-. In the context of ATH, 60 retinal images from 30 clinically probable ATH and 30 control cases were acquired. Inclusion criteria for subjects suffering from ATH included: myocardial infarction; coronary angiography showing at least one coronary stenosis (more than 50%); and/or coronary angioplasty; and/or coronary bypass. Retinal arterioles of ATH subjects showed a significant narrowing when compared to control subjects. Moreover, a significant difference between image texture measures taken over retinal arterioles and retinal venules and their adjacent regions was observed between ATH subjects and control subjects. Our cross-sectional studies have shown that hyperspectral retinal image analysis could be used to discriminate AD and ATH from corresponding control subjects based on a non-invasive eye scan

Parametric imaging of attenuation by optical coherence tomography: review of models, methods, and clinical translation

SIGNIFICANCE: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides cross-sectional and volumetric images of backscattering from biological tissue that reveal the tissue morphology. The strength of the scattering, characterized by an attenuation coefficient, represents an alternative and complementary tissue optical property, which can be characterized by parametric imaging of the OCT attenuation coefficient. Over the last 15 years, a multitude of studies have been reported seeking to advance methods to determine the OCT attenuation coefficient and developing them toward clinical applications. AIM: Our review provides an overview of the main models and methods, their assumptions and applicability, together with a survey of preclinical and clinical demonstrations and their translation potential. RESULTS: The use of the attenuation coefficient, particularly when presented in the form of parametric en face images, is shown to be applicable in various medical fields. Most studies show the promise of the OCT attenuation coefficient in differentiating between tissues of clinical interest but vary widely in approach. CONCLUSIONS: As a future step, a consensus on the model and method used for the determination of the attenuation coefficient is an important precursor to large-scale studies. With our review, we hope to provide a basis for discussion toward establishing this consensus

Experimental and computational biomedicine : Russian Conference with International Participation in memory of Professor Vladimir S. Markhasin : abstract book

Toward 100 Anniversary of I. P. Pavlov's Physiological Society.The volume contains the presentations that were made during Russian conference with international participation "Experimental and Computational Biomedicine" dedicated to corresponding member of RAS V.S. Markhasin (Ekaterinburg, April 10‒12, 2016). The main purpose of the conference is the discussion of the current state of experimental and theoretical research in biomedicine. For a wide range of scientists, as well as for lecturers, students of the biological and medical high schools.Сборник содержит тезисы докладов, представленных на российской конференции с международным участием «Экспериментальная и компьютерная биомедицина», посвященной памяти члена‐корреспондента РАН В. С. Мархасина (г. Екатеринбург, 10‒12 апреля 2016 г.). Основной целью конференции является обсуждение современного состояния экспериментальных и теоретических исследований в области биомедицины. Сборник предназначен для ученых, преподавателей, студентов и аспирантов биологического и медицинского профиля.МАРХАСИН ВЛАДИМИР СЕМЕНОВИЧ (1941-2015)/ MARKHASIN VLADIMIR SEMENOVICH (1941-2015). [3] PROGRAMM COMMITTEE. [5] ORGANIZING COMMITTEE. [6] KEYNOTE SPEAKERS. [7] CONTENTS. [9] PLENARY LECTURES. [10] Fedotov S. Non-Markovian random walks and anomalous transport in biology. [10] Hoekstra A. Multiscale modelling in vascular disease. [10] Kohl P. Systems biology of the heart: why bother? [10] Meyerhans A. On the regulation of virus infection fates. [11] Panfilov A.V., Dierckx H., Kazbanov I., Vandersickel N. Systems approach to studying mechanisms of ventricular fibrillationusing anatomically accurate modeling. [11] Revishvili A.S. Atrial fibrillation. Noninvasive diagnostic and treatment:from fundamental studies to clinical practice. [12] Rice J. Life sciences research at IBM. [12] Roshchevskaya I.M., Smirnova S., Roshchevsky M.P. Regularities of the depolarization of an atria:an experimental comparative-physiological study. [12] Rusinov V.L., Chupahin O.N., Charushin V.N Scientific basis for development of antiviral drugs. [13] Solovyova O.E. Tribute Lecture. Mechano-electric heterogeneity of the myocardiumas a paradigm of its function. [13] Veksler V. Myocardial energy starvation in chronic heart failure:perspectives for metabolic therapy. [13] Wladimiroff J.W. Fetal cardiac assessment using new methodsof ultrasound examination. [14] Yushkov B.G., Chereshnev V.A. The important questions of regeneration theory. [14] EXPERIMENTAL AND COMPUTATIONAL MODELS IN CARDIOVASCULARPHYSIOLOGY AND CARDIOLOGY. [15] EXPERIMENTAL AND COMPUTATIONAL MODELS IN CARDIOVASCULARPHYSIOLOGY AND CARDIOLOGY. [15] Arteyeva N. T-wave area along with Tpeak-Tend interval is the most accurateindex of the dispersion of repolarization. [15] Borodin N., Iaparov B.Y., Moskvin A. Mathematical modeling of the calmodulin effect on the RyR2 gating. [15] Dokuchaev A., Katsnelson L.B., Sulman T.B., Shikhaleva E.V., Vikulova N.A. Contribution of cooperativity to the mechano-calcium feedbacksin myocardium. Experimental discrepancy and mathematicalapproach to overcome it. [16] Elman K.A., Filatova D.Y., Bashkatova Y.V., Beloschenko D.V. The stochastic and chaotic estimation of parametersof cardiorespiratory system of students of Ugra. [16] Erkudov V.O., Pugovkin A.P., Verlov N.A., Sergeev I.V., Ievkov S.A., Mashood S., Bagrina J.V. Characteristics of the accuracy of calculation of values of systemic blood pressure using transfer functions in experimental blood loss and its compensation. [16] Ermolaev P., Khramykh T.Mechanisms of cardiodepression after 80% liver resection in rats. [17] Filatova O.E., Rusak S.N., Maystrenko E.V., Dobrynina I.Y. Aging dynamics of cardio-vascular parameters аboriginal systemand alien population of the Russian North. [17] Frolova S., Agladze K.I., Tsvelaya V., Gaiko O. Photocontrol of voltage-gated ion channel activity by azobenzenetrimethylammonium bromide in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. [18] Gorbunov V.S., Agladze K.I., Erofeev I.S. The application of C-TAB for excitation propagation photocontrolin cardiac tissue. [18] Iribe G. Localization of TRPC3 channels estimated by in-silicoand cellular functional experiments. [19] Kachalov V.N., Tsvelaya V., Agladze K.I. Conditions of the spiral wave unpinning from the heterogeneitywith different boundary conditions in a model of cardiac tissue. [19] Kalita I., Nizamieva A.A., Tsvelaya V., Kudryashova N., Agladze K.I. The influence of anisotropy on excitation wave propagationin neonatal rat cardiomyocytes monolayer. [19] Kamalova Y. The designing of vectorcardiograph prototype. [20] Kapelko V., Shirinsky V.P., Lakomkin V., Lukoshkova E., Gramovich V.,Vyborov O., Abramov A., Undrovinas N., Ermishkin V. Models of chronic heart failure with acute and gradual onset. [20] Khassanov I., Lomidze N.N., Revishvili A.S. Remote Patient Monitoring and Integration of Medical Data. [20] Kislukhin V. Markov chain for an indicator passing throughoutcardio-vascular system (CVS). [21] Konovalov P.V., Pravdin S., Solovyova O.E., Panfilov A.V. Influence of myocardial heterogeneity on scroll wave dynamicsin an axisymmetrical anatomical model of the left ventricle of thehuman heart. [21] Koshelev A., Pravdin S., Ushenin K.S., Bazhutina A.E. An improved analytical model of the cardiac left ventricle. [22] Lookin O., Protsenko Y.L. Sex-related effects of stretch on isometric twitch and Ca2+ transientin healthy and failing right ventricular myocardiumof adult and impuberal rats. [22] Moskvin A. Electron-conformational model of the ligand-activated ion channels. [22] Nezlobinsky T., Pravdin S., Katsnelson L.B. In silico comparison of the electrical propagation wave alongmyocardium fibers in the left ventricle wall vs. isolation. [23] Nigmatullina R.R., Zemskova S.N., Bilalova D.F., Mustafin A.A., Kuzmina O.I., Chibireva M.D., Nedorezova R.S. Valid method for estimation of pulmonary hypertention degreein children. [23] Parfenov A. Mathematical modeling of the cardiovascular systemunder the influence of environmental factors. [24] Pimenov V.G., Hendy A. Adaptivity of the alternating direction method for fractional reactiondiffusion equation with delay effects in electrocardiology. [24] Podgurskaya A.D., Krasheninnikova A., Tsvelaya V., Kudryashova N., Agladze K.I. Influence of alcohols on excitation wave propagationin neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocyte monolayer. [24] Pravdin S. A mathematical model of the cardiac left ventricle anatomy and morphology. [24] Seemann G. Cause and effects of cardiac heterogeneity:insights from experimental and computational models. [25] Seryapina A.A., Shevelev O.B. Basic metabolomic patterns in early hypertensive rats: MRI study. [25] Shestakov A.P., Vasserman I.N., Shardakov I.N. Modeling of cardiac arrhythmia generation caused bypathological distribution of myocardial conductivity. [26] Shutko A.V., Gorbunov V.S., Nizamieva A.A., Guriya K.G., Agladze K.I. Contractile micro-constructs from cardiac tissue culturefor the research of autowave propagation in excitable systems. [26] Simakov S., Gamilov T., Kopylov Ph. Computational study of the haemodynamic significanceof the stenosis during multivessel coronary disease. [27] Syomin F., Zberiya M.V. A numerical simulation of changes in the performance of the leftventricle of the heart under various hemodynamic conditions. [27] Tsaturyan A. A simple model of cardiac muscle:mechanics, actin-myosin interaction and Ca-activation. [27] Tsvelaya V., Krasheninnikova A., Kudryashova N., Agladze K.I. Calcium-current dominated upstroke in severe hyperkalemia. [28] Ushenin K.S., Pravdin S., Chumarnaya T.V., Alueva Y.S., Solovyova O.E. Dynamics of scroll wave filaments in personalized modelsof the left ventricle of the human heart. [28] Vasserman I.N., Shardakov I.N., Shestakov A.P. Deriving of macroscopic intracellular conductivity of deformedmyocardium based on its microstructure. [28] Vassilevski Y.V., Pryamonosov R., Gamilov T. Personalized 3D models and applications. [29] Zun P.S., Hoekstra A., Anikina T.S. First results of fully coupled 3D models of in-stent restenosis. [29] BIOMECHANICS. EXPERIMENTAL AND MATHEMATICAL MODELSSBIOMECHANICS. EXPERIMENTAL AND MATHEMATICAL MODELS. EXPERIMENTAL AND MATHEMATICAL MODELS. [30] Balakin A., Kuznetsov D., Protsenko Y.L. The ‘length-tension’ loop in isolated myocardial preparations of theright ventricle of normal and hypertrophied hearts of male rats. [30] Belousova M.D., Kruchinina A.P., Chertopolokhov V.A. Automatic control model of the three-tier arm type manipulatorin the aimed-movement task. [30] Berestin D.K., Bazhenova A.E., Chernikov N.A., Vokhmina Y.V. Mathematical modeling of dynamics of development of Parkinson'sdisease on the tremor parameters. [31] Dubinin A.L., Nyashin Y.I., Osipenko M.A. Development of the biomechanical approach to tooth movementunder the orthodontic treatment. [31] Galochkina T., Volpert V. Reaction-diffusion waves in mathematical model of bloodcoagulation. [31] Golov A.V., Simakov S., Timme E.A. Mathematical modeling of alveolar ventilationand gas exchange during treadmill stress tests. [32] Gurev V., Rice J. Strain prediction in 3D finite element models of cardiac mechanics. [32] Kamaltdinov M.R. Simulation of digestion processes in antroduodenum:food particles dissolution in consideration of functional disorders. [33] Khamzin S., Kursanov A., Solovyova O.E. Load-dependence of the electromechanical function of myocardiumin a 1D tissue model. [33] Khokhlova A., Iribe G., Solovyova O.E Transmural gradient in mechanical properties of isolatedsubendocardial and subepicardial cardiomyocytes. [33] Kruchinin P.A. 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Generalizable automated pixel-level structural segmentation of medical and biological data

Over the years, the rapid expansion in imaging techniques and equipments has driven the demand for more automation in handling large medical and biological data sets. A wealth of approaches have been suggested as optimal solutions for their respective imaging types. These solutions span various image resolutions, modalities and contrast (staining) mechanisms. Few approaches generalise well across multiple image types, contrasts or resolution. This thesis proposes an automated pixel-level framework that addresses 2D, 2D+t and 3D structural segmentation in a more generalizable manner, yet has enough adaptability to address a number of specific image modalities, spanning retinal funduscopy, sequential fluorescein angiography and two-photon microscopy. The pixel-level segmentation scheme involves: i ) constructing a phase-invariant orientation field of the local spatial neighbourhood; ii ) combining local feature maps with intensity-based measures in a structural patch context; iii ) using a complex supervised learning process to interpret the combination of all the elements in the patch in order to reach a classification decision. This has the advantage of transferability from retinal blood vessels in 2D to neural structures in 3D. To process the temporal components in non-standard 2D+t retinal angiography sequences, we first introduce a co-registration procedure: at the pairwise level, we combine projective RANSAC with a quadratic homography transformation to map the coordinate systems between any two frames. At the joint level, we construct a hierarchical approach in order for each individual frame to be registered to the global reference intra- and inter- sequence(s). We then take a non-training approach that searches in both the spatial neighbourhood of each pixel and the filter output across varying scales to locate and link microvascular centrelines to (sub-) pixel accuracy. In essence, this \link while extract" piece-wise segmentation approach combines the local phase-invariant orientation field information with additional local phase estimates to obtain a soft classification of the centreline (sub-) pixel locations. Unlike retinal segmentation problems where vasculature is the main focus, 3D neural segmentation requires additional exibility, allowing a variety of structures of anatomical importance yet with different geometric properties to be differentiated both from the background and against other structures. Notably, cellular structures, such as Purkinje cells, neural dendrites and interneurons, all display certain elongation along their medial axes, yet each class has a characteristic shape captured by an orientation field that distinguishes it from other structures. To take this into consideration, we introduce a 5D orientation mapping to capture these orientation properties. This mapping is incorporated into the local feature map description prior to a learning machine. Extensive performance evaluations and validation of each of the techniques presented in this thesis is carried out. For retinal fundus images, we compute Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves on existing public databases (DRIVE & STARE) to assess and compare our algorithms with other benchmark methods. For 2D+t retinal angiography sequences, we compute the error metrics ("Centreline Error") of our scheme with other benchmark methods. For microscopic cortical data stacks, we present segmentation results on both surrogate data with known ground-truth and experimental rat cerebellar cortex two-photon microscopic tissue stacks.Open Acces

Retinal Imaging: Acquisition, Processing, and Application of Mueller Matrix Confocal Scanning Laser Polarimetry

The focus of this thesis is the improvement of acquisition and processing of Mueller matrix polarimetry using a confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope (CSLO) and the application of Mueller matrix polarimetry to image the retina. Stepper motors were incorporated into a CSLO to semi-automate Mueller matrix polarimetry and were used in retinal image acquisition. Success rates of Fourier transform based edge detection filters, designed to improve the registration of retinal images, were compared. The acquired polarimetry images were used to reassess 2 image quality enhancement techniques, Mueller matrix reconstruction (MMR) and Stokes vector reconstruction (SVR), focusing on the role of auto-contrasting or normalization within the techniques and the degree to which auto-contrasting or normalization is responsible for image quality improvement of the resulting images. Mueller matrix polarimetry was also applied to find the retardance image of a malaria infected retinal blood vessel imaged in a confocal scanning laser microscope (CSLM) to visualize hemozoin within the vessel. Image quality enhancement techniques were also applied and image quality improvement was quantified for this blood vessel. The semi-automation of Mueller matrix polarimetry yielded a significant reduction in experimental acquisition time (80%) and a non-significant reduction in registration time (44%). A larger sample size would give higher power and this result might become significant. The reduction in registration time was most likely due to less movement of the eye, particularly in terms of decreased rotation seen between registered images. Fourier transform edge detection methods increased the success rate of registration from 73.9% to 92.3%. Assessment of the 2 MMR images (max entropy and max signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)) showed that comparison to the best CSLO images (not auto-contrasted) yielded significant average image quality improvements of 158% and 4% when quantified with entropy and SNR, respectively. When compared to best auto-contrasted CSLO images, significant image quality improvements were 11% and 5% for entropy and SNR, respectively. Images constructed from auto-contrasted input images were of significantly higher quality than images reconstructed from original images. Of the 2 other images assessed (modified degree of polarization (DOPM) and the first element of the Stokes vector (S0)), DOPM and S0 yielded significant average image quality improvements quantified by entropy except for the DOPM image of the RNFL. SNR was not improved significantly when either SVR image was compared to the best CSLO images. Compared to the best auto-contrasted CSLO images, neither DOPM nor S0 improved average image quality significantly. This result might change with a larger number of participants. When MMR were applied to images of malaria infected retinal slides, image quality was improved by 19.7% and 15.3% in terms of entropy and SNR, respectively, when compared to the best CSLO image. The DOPM image yielded image quality improvements of 8.6% and -24.3% and the S0 image gave improvements of 9.5% and 9.4% in entropy and SNR, respectively. Although percent increase in image quality was reduced when images were compared to initial auto-contrasted CSLO images, the final image quality was improved when auto-contrasting occurred prior to polarimetry calculations for max SNR and max entropy images. Quantitative values of retardance could not be found due to physical constraints in the CSLM that did not allow for characterization of its polarization properties and vibrational noise. Mueller matrix polarimetry used to find the retardance image of a malaria infected retina sample did yield visualization of hemozoin within the vessel but only qualitatively. In conclusion, improvements in the acquisition and registration of CSLO images were successful in leading to considerably shorter experimentation and processing times. In terms of polarimetric image quality improvement techniques, when compared to the best CSLO image. A large proportion of the improvement was in fact due to partially or completely stretching the pixel values across the dynamic range of the images within the algorithm of each technique. However, in general the image quality was still improved by the Mueller matrix reconstruction techniques using both entropy and SNR to generate the CSLO retinal images and the CSLM imaged malaria infected sample. In the malaria sample, retinal blood vessel visualization was also qualitatively improved. The images yielded from Mueller matrix polarimetry applied to a malaria infected retinal sample localized hemozoin within the blood vessel, but a quantitative image of the phase retardance could not be achieved