Many polarisation techniques have been harnessed for decades in biological and clinical research, each based upon measurement of the vectorial properties of light or the vectorial transformations imposed on light by objects. Various advanced vector measurement/sensing techniques, physical interpretation methods, and approaches to analyse biomedically relevant information have been developed and harnessed. In this review, we focus mainly on summarising methodologies and applications related to tissue polarimetry, with an emphasis on the adoption of the Stokes–Mueller formalism. Several recent breakthroughs, development trends, and potential multimodal uses in conjunction with other techniques are also presented. The primary goal of the review is to give the reader a general overview in the use of vectorial information that can be obtained by polarisation optics for applications in biomedical and clinical research.

几十年来，许多偏振技术已在生物学和临床研究中得到应用，每一种技术都基于对光的矢量特性或物体对光施加的矢量变换的测量。已经开发和利用了各种先进的矢量测量/传感技术、物理解释方法和分析生物医学相关信息的方法。在这篇综述中，我们主要侧重于总结与组织偏振测定相关的方法和应用，重点是 Stokes-Mueller 形式主义的采用。还介绍了最近的一些突破、发展趋势以及与其他技术结合使用的潜在多模式应用。