The cornea is the outermost segment of the eyeball. Due to it's lamellar structure the cornea indicates the optical anisotropy and effect of birefringence. We have applied phase stepping imaging polarimetry to measure birefringence of the human cornea in vivo and in vitro. Investigation of the corneal birefringence could be useful for examining the inner corneal structure, its lamellar arrangement and in medical diagnosing of corneal pathologies. There are also some potential applications of this method in transplantation of human corneas and refractive surgery procedures. The phase stepping imaging polarimetry technique used here, allows calculating azimuth angle, phase retardation and transmission coefficient of the sample. The method uses simple setup, sample at rest, and enables fast and accurate acquisition of data. The theory of the method is included. Experimental results of azimuth angle and phase retardation distribution for human cornea in vivo and in vitro are also presented.
|