Optical Polarization Imaging of Pigmented Skin Lesions: Comparison, Advantageous, and Challenges

Melanoma is a dangerous skin cancer that early diagnosis is the treatment key. Dermatoscopy as the commonest approach to assess pigmented and non-pigmented skin lesions noninvasively based on visual inspections. In addition, this technique is not capable to provide precise cancer stage estimation. Polarization characterization of skin lesions through Mueller matrix images or stokes images is suggested as a complementary methodology for dermatoscopy to help in extraction more quantitative and qualitative information. Using polarized light in imaging increases contrast, so that discriminative features of pigmented lesions. Become more highlighted different stages of being cancerous in pigmented lesions, occur with changes in sizes shape, collagen fiber structure and accumulation of melanocytes. Interaction of skin-polarized light can be applied for differentiating cancerous and noncancerous lesions because of these morphological variations. By monitoring the changes based on polarization characteristics of tissues, it is possible to access more information regarding tension physiology and cancer stage.