Birefringent tissue-mimicking phantom for polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography imaging.

Significance: Tissue birefringence is an important parameter to consider when designing realistic, tissue-mimicking phantoms. Options for suitable birefringent materials that can be used to accurately represent tissue scattering are limited.

Aim: To introduce a method of fabricating birefringent tissue phantoms with a commonly used material-polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-for imaging with polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT).