{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T20:25:11Z","timestamp":1792787111754,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"SPIE-Intl Soc Optical Eng","issue":"01","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]],"date-time":"2026-01-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1769126400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"GoodHope Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Foundation"},{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry (University of Toronto) Enrichment Endowment Fund for Fully Automated Histological Tissue Processing Equipment","id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03dbr7087","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"New Frontiers in Research Fund","award":["NFRFE-2019-01049"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NFRFE-2019-01049"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000024","name":"Canadian Institutes of Health Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PJT-156110"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PJT-156110"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000024","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"},{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01gavpb45","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000038","name":"Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["RGPIN-2018-04930"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RGPIN-2018-04930"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000038","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Ontario Research Fund","award":["RE010-068"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RE010-068"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Biophoton. Discovery"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>BackgroundDiagnosing classical and hypermobile Ehlers\u2013Danlos syndromes, cEDS and hEDS, respectively, remains challenging due to overlapping clinical presentations and the lack of objective diagnostic tools. A label-free quantitative method for detecting EDS from normal tissues and for distinguishing its subtypes could support more timely and accurate clinical evaluation.ObjectivesWe evaluate the capability of Mueller matrix (MM) polarized light microscopy to resolve polarimetric contrasts between healthy and EDS samples and to assess its potential for differentiating between the cEDS and hEDS subtypes.MethodsUnstained skin biopsy slides from 19 participants (healthy, n=3; cEDS, n=5; hEDS, n=11) were imaged using a custom MM microscopy setup. In addition to acquiring 16 MM elements, 24 polarimetric parameters were obtained and tested for their detection and differentiation abilities. Group-wise comparisons of median parameter values were performed after assessing distribution normality using the Shapiro\u2013Wilk test, applying either the Mann\u2013Whitney U test or the independent-samples t-test as appropriate.ResultsThree polarimetric parameters (PL, \u03b2, and \u03c8) showed statistically significant differences between EDS-affected and healthy skin, with higher PL values observed in healthy tissue, consistent with more uniform collagen alignment in healthy subjects. Five parameters (PL, rL, P1, P3, and Ptms) significantly differentiated cEDS from hEDS, with rL demonstrating the strongest separation. PL was the only parameter to show statistical significance for both tasks.ConclusionsMM polarimetry shows promise for label-free, quantitative assessment of skin collagen organization and offers potential for detecting EDS and differentiating its subtypes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1117\/1.bios.3.1.015002","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]],"date-time":"2026-01-23T07:27:40Z","timestamp":1769153260000},"page":"1-15","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Label-free differentiation of classical and hypermobile Ehlers\u2013Danlos syndromes using Mueller matrix polarimetry"],"prefix":"10.1117","volume":"3","author":[{"given":"Kseniia","family":"Tumanova","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Univ. of Toronto"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eric","family":"Min","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Univ. of Toronto"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5354-2423","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniel C.","family":"Louie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Univ. Health Network"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mehrnoosh","family":"Neshatian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Univ. of Toronto"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sara","family":"Shalviry","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Univ. of Toronto"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nimish","family":"Mittal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Toronto, Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Laurent","family":"Bozec","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Univ. of Toronto"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alex","family":"Vitkin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Univ. of Toronto"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"189","container-title":["Biophotonics Discovery"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.spiedigitallibrary.org\/journals\/biophotonics-discovery\/volume-3\/issue-01\/015002\/Label-free-differentiation-of-classical-and-hypermobile-EhlersDanlos-syndromes-using\/10.1117\/1.BIOS.3.1.015002.full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T20:22:38Z","timestamp":1790194958000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.spiedigitallibrary.org\/journals\/biophotonics-discovery\/volume-3\/issue-01\/015002\/Label-free-differentiation-of-classical-and-hypermobile-EhlersDanlos-syndromes-using\/10.1117\/1.BIOS.3.1.015002.full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"01","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1117\/1.bios.3.1.015002","relation":{},"ISSN":["3005-4745","3005-4745"],"issn-type":[{"value":"3005-4745","type":"print"},{"value":"3005-4745","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]]}}}