Coherent Fourier scatterometry reveals nerve fiber crossings in the brain

Nieuws - 15 september 2020 - Communication ImPhys

In January, Miriam Menzel visited the optics group to work on an experiment to measure scattering patterns in monkey and human brain tissue using coherent Fourier scatterometry. By transmitting a non-focused laser beam through unstained histological brain sections, the scattering patterns for small tissue regions (with diameters of 0.1–1 mm) were obtained. These patterns show accordance with the simulated scattering patterns. In this way we showed that is possible to reveal individual fiber orientations for up to three crossing nerve fiber bundles, with crossing angles down to 25°

The results were recently published in Biomedical Optics Express:

M. Menzel and S.F.Pereira, Biomedical Optics Express 11(8) 4735-4758 (2020)
https://doi.org/10.1364/BOE.397604

Abstract:
Previous simulation studies by Menzel et al. [Phys. Rev. X 10, 021002 (2020)] have shown that scattering patterns of light transmitted through artificial nerve fiber constellations contain valuable information about the tissue substructure such as the individual fiber orientations in regions with crossing nerve fibers. Here, we present a method that measures these scattering patterns in monkey and human brain tissue using coherent Fourier scatterometry with normally incident light. By transmitting a non-focused laser beam (λ = 633 nm) through unstained histological brain sections, we measure the scattering patterns for small tissue regions (with diameters of 0.1–1 mm), and show that they are in accordance with the simulated scattering patterns. We reveal the individual fiber orientations for up to three crossing nerve fiber bundles, with crossing angles down to 25°.