- Article
- Open access
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- Giuseppe Massimo Bernava2,
- Tiziana Triulzi3,
- Rosaria Orlandi3,
- Giuseppe Lombardo2 &
- …
- Riccardo Cicchi4,5
Scientific Reports (2026) Cite this article
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Abstract
We present a novel multiparametric approach for analyzing high-resolution polarization-resolved Second-Harmonic Generation (pSHG) images to identify aligned collagen bundles in histological samples of human breast cancer. This method introduces a model-free optical biomarker—Polarization Asymmetry (PA)—which quantify collagen supramolecular organization without relying on assumed symmetry models. This biomarker was compared with both the angular phase shift (ϕ0) of pSHG intensity curves and the |χyyy| component of the second-order susceptibility tensor, derived from fitting pSHG data to a trigonal symmetry model. Our results reveal that high values of PA, |χyyy|, and ϕ0 variation over micrometric scale, consistently detect the presence of aligned collagen bundles, suggesting a correlation with the structural remodeling of the extracellular matrix at the sub-micrometric scale that may influence tissue mechanical properties. Validation on human corneal tissue, characterized by well-known collagen architecture and biomechanics, confirmed the robustness and generalizability of our approach for detecting diagnostically relevant collagen signatures in cancer and other collagen-rich tissues.
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Alessandro Ruzza from ‘Fondazione Banca degli occhi del Veneto—Onlus’ for providing corneal tissues.
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Mercatelli, R., Bernava, G.M., Triulzi, T. et al. Model-free multiparametric analysis of SHG images reveals collagen signatures in breast cancer. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-62801-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-62801-y