Quantitative measurement of optical parameters of cell lines 5-8F and 6-10B using polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography

► We imaged the two types of NPC cell lines (5-8F and 6-10B pellets) using PS-OCT. ► Their optical attenuate coefficients were μs = 10.91 ± 0.45 and μs = 11.33 ± 0.27 cm−1. ► Their anisotropies were g = 0.900 ± 0.013 and g = 0.885 ± 0.008. ► The phase retardation of 6-10B was a little faster than that of 5-8F. ► PS-OCT could differentiate the two cell lines effectively.