Coherent transmission of polarized light through mammalian tissue

The total optical absorption in mammalian tissues is measured at 633 nm by using heterodyne detection which permits us to detect coherent photons after attenuation by more than 10 optical densities. In order to understand what kind of photons are coherently detected after passing through mammalian tissues of significant thickness (from 2 to 4 mm), we measured attenuation under linearly and circularly polarized illumination. Both polarizations are similarly transmitted through homogeneous tissues such as liver and muscle. Results are identical to those obtained in previous experiments without polarizer.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.