Abstract

We report an in situ method of probing the structure of living epithelial cells, based on light scattering spectroscopy with polarized light. The method makes it possible to distinguish between single backscattering from uppermost epithelial cells and multiply scattered light. The spectrum of the single backscattering component can be further analyzed to provide histological information about the epithelial cells such as the size distribution of the cell nuclei and their refractive index. These are valuable quantities' to detect and diagnose precancerous changes in human tissues.