Quantification of the wound healing using polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography

We use polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT ) to monitor the wound healing process in vitro and in vivo, which are affected by various drugs. Five rabbit subjects are used for in vitro studies and another five are used for in vivo studies. The in vitro studies are conducted to compare the PS-OCT images with histopathology. For each subject, three biopsy lesions are created on each ear: one site is not treated (control); the second site is treated with sphingosylphosphorylcholine, which is expected to promote healing; and the last is administered with tetraacetylphytosphingosine, which negatively affects the healing process. Each site is examined with a PS-OCT system at 1, 4, 7, 10, and 14-days after wound generation. The variations of phase retardation values caused by the collagen morphology changes on wound sites are quantified for all cases. Our results suggest that PS-OCT may be a useful tool for visualization of collagen fiber regeneration and for quantification of various drug effects during the wound healing process. (c) 2006 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.