Quantification of retinal lesions by polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography

Segmentation of retinal structures is an important step for quantitative diagnostic applications of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in ophthalmology. Contrary to previous segmentation algorithms that are based on intensity images, we use the tissue specific contrast provided by polarization sensitive (PS) OCT for segmentation of retinal layers and lesions. Our algorithms exploit the polarization scrambling property of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in a first step to segment the RPE. The RPE is then used as a "backbone" to identify further structures like the normal RPE position (indicating Bruch's membrane) or the posterior tips of the photoreceptors. In a final step, lesions like drusen, RPE atrophies, and subretinal fluids are segmented.