Polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography for monitoring wound healing process

We use polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) to monitor wound healing processes in-vitro and in-vivo, which are affected by various drugs. Five rabbit subjects are used for the in-vitro studies and another five are used for in-vivo studies. The in-vitro studies are conducted to compare the PS-OCT images with histopathology. For each subject, three biopsy lesions are created on each ear: one site is not treated (control), the second site is treated with sphingosyl phosphoryl choline (SPC), which is known to promote healing, and the last is administered with tetra acetyl phytosphingo sine (TAPS), which negatively affects the healing process. Each site is examined with a PS-OCT system and conventional histopathology at 1-, 4-, 7-, 10-, and 14-days after wound generation. The phase retardation values are quantified for all cases and our results suggest that PS-OCT may be a useful tool for visualization of collagen fiber regeneration during the healing process; therefore, various drug effects can be noninvasively monitored.