Characterizing cell morphological changes based on deriving parameters from the Mueller matrix polarimetry

Abstract

In the clinic, certain diseases caused by genetic mutations or viral infections can alter the morphology and size of cells. Mueller matrix polarimetry is highly sensitive to microscale structural changes and can be utilized to detect cellular morphological alterations. Moreover, the extracting parameters from the Mueller matrix can serve as a key indicator for characterizing anomalous changes in cell morphology, demonstrating promising potential for application in disease analysis and diagnosis. Based on full polarization Mueller matrix imaging, this study proposes a characterization method for assessing red blood cell morphological changes induced by osmotic pressure. The results indicate significant variations in polarization parameters reflecting the morphological changes of red blood cells under different osmotic pressure regulations from sodium chloride solutions with different mass fractions. In addition, there are some differences in the sensitivity of different polarization parameters to cell deformation.