Division of focal plane polarimeter-based 3 × 4 Mueller matrix microscope: a potential tool for quick diagnosis of human carcinoma tissues

A polarization microscope is a useful tool to reveal the optical anisotropic nature of a specimen and can provide abundant microstructural information about samples. We present a division of focal plane (DoFP) polarimeter-based polarization microscope capable of simultaneously measuring both the Stokes vector and the 3×4 Mueller matrix with an optimal polarization illumination scheme. The Mueller matrix images of unstained human carcinoma tissue slices show that the m24 and m34 elements can provide important information for pathological observations. The characteristic features of the m24 and m34 elements can be enhanced by polarization staining under illumination by a circularly polarized light. Hence, combined with a graphics processing unit acceleration algorithm, the DoFP polarization microscope is capable of real-time polarization imaging for potential quick clinical diagnoses of both standard and frozen slices of human carcinoma tissues.