Circularly polarized light scattering imaging of a cancerous layer creeping under a healthy layer for the diagnosis of early-stage cervical cancer.

Significance: Cervical cancer progresses through cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), which are precursor lesions of cervical cancer. In low-grade CIN, atypical cells are generated inside the squamous epithelium, which causes the accuracy of cytodiagnosis for cervical cancer not to be very high. The grade of CIN can be estimated by the depth of atypical cell infiltration from the basal layer to the surface, rather than the abnormality of cells. Therefore, a noninvasive method is required to evaluate the depths of abnormal cells hidden at depth. Aim: Cancerous tissues beneath healthy tissues were experimentally identified using circularly polarized light scattering (CiPLS). This method enabled the changes in the size of the cell nuclei within the penetration depth in tissue to be investigated. Approach: Artificial unexposed cancerous tissues were prepared that consisted of healthy/cancerous/healthy layers with various thicknesses of the topmost healthy layer and the cancerous layer. A polarization imaging camera with a quarter-wave plate was used to create distribution images of the circular polarization of the scattered light. Results: CiPLS images indicated that the thickness variation of the top healthy layer (the depth of the cancerous layer) caused significant changes in the degree of circular polarization. Conclusions: The depth of unexposed cancer lying within the optical penetration depth can be evaluated using a circular polarization imaging system based on the CiPLS method. These findings will lead to the development of a noninvasive optical diagnostic method for early-stage cervical cancer, potentially improving early detection and treatment outcomes.