Combination of Annular Aperture and Polarization Gating Methods for Efficient Microscopic Imaging through a Turbid Medium: Theoretical Analysis

Abstract

Abstract: In this study, we investigate the principle of the annular aperture and polarization gating methods for microscopic imaging through a turbid medium using images simulated by a modified Monte Carlo program. Significant improvement in image quality is shown when thin annular apertures are used in the illumination and detection paths of a microscopic imaging system. The polarization gating method is proven to be an efficient gating method for selecting ballistic photons that carry the information of an object embedded in a turbid medium. We also demonstrate that the combination of the annular aperture and polarization gating methods is highly efficient in suppressing the scattered light in microscopic imaging through a turbid medium. It is also revealed that a pinhole used in a confocal microscope plays an independent angle-gating role.