Diagnostics of high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia with Mueller matrix polarimetry

An enhancement of contrast between healthy and neoplastic zones in Mueller matrix images of excised cervical tissue was demonstrated in our prior work for the visible wavelength range. In this paper we present the statistical analysis of Mueller polarimetric data for the diagnostics of high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. The results of linear and non-linear post-processing compressions of the full Mueller matrix are discussed and compared in terms of diagnostic performance. The final goal of these studies is to estimate and compare the diagnostic usefulness of 16 polarimetric measurements required for the reconstruction of complete Mueller matrix of a sample, while looking for an optimal design of future imaging protocols.