Imaging polarimetry in macular disease with scanning laser polarimetry and polarization-sensitive Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography

Polarization properties of the human eye have long been used to study the tissues of the human retina, as well as to improve retinal imaging, and several new technologies using polarized light are in use or under development1-6. Recently, scanning laser polarimetry was used to selectively emphasize the different layers of the retina1-3. Birefringence and depolarization were observed in the area with deep retinal lesions in macular disease1-3. To confirm the origin of these polarization changes, layer by layer analysis is required. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been developed to measure the depth-resolved image of the retina, and polarization-sensitive OCT (PS-OCT) could visualize the polarization properties of various retinal layers5-7. With combination of scanning laser polarimetry and PS-OCT, we can obtain more information about polarization properties of the macular disease. In this study, we compared scanning laser polarimetry image and PS-OCT image to evaluate the polarization properties of the deep retinal lesion in macular disease.