SCATTERING OF LIGHT FROM HISTOLOGIC SECTIONS - A NEW METHOD FOR THE ANALYSIS OF CONNECTIVE-TISSUE

We have developed a light scattering technique that can be used to ana lyze the orientation and diameter of collagen fibers in histologic sec tions of connective tissue. Scattering patterns obtained by transmitti ng laser light through sections of tissue contain information both on the orientation, degree of alignment, and size of the constituent coll agen fibers. Analysis of the azimuthal intensity distribution of scatt ered light yields numerical values of the degree of alignment by use o f an orientation index, S, which is chosen to vary between 0 for rando mly oriented fibers and 1 for a perfectly aligned arrangement. The ave rage diameter of the collagen fibers is calculated from the scattering angle at which the intensity reaches its first minimum. These measure ments are independent of the nature of histologic stain. The procedure is illustrated by measurements obtained with sections of the guinea p ig dermis and of control scar. We conclude from our experiments that l ight scattering can complement the analysis of tissue architecture typ ically performed with the light microscope.