Quantitative assessment of submicron scale anisotropy in tissue multifractality by scattering Mueller matrix in the framework of Born approximation

A number of tissue-like disordered media exhibit local anisotropy of scattering in the scaling behavior. Scaling behavior contains wealth of fractal or multifractal properties. We demonstrate that the spatial dielectric fluctuations in a sample of biological tissue exhibit multifractal anisotropy. Multifractal anisotropy encoded in the wavelength variation of the light scattering Mueller matrix and manifesting as an intriguing spectral diattenuation effect. We developed an inverse method for the quantitative assessment of the multifractal anisotropy. The method is based on the processing of relevant Mueller matrix elements in Fourier domain by using Born approximation, followed by the multifractal analysis. The approach promises for probing subtle microstructural changes in biological tissues associated with the cancer and precancer, as well as for non-destructive characterization of a wide range of scattering materials. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.