Noninterferometric single-shot quantitative phase microscopy

• Main Authors: Zuo, Chao, Chen, Qian, Qu, Weijuan, Asundi, Anand Krishna
• Other Authors: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/101177; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/18299
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

We present a noninterferometric single-shot quantitative phase microscopy technique with the use of the transport of intensity equation (TIE). The optical configuration is based on a Michelson-like architecture attached to a nonmodified inverted transmission bright field microscope. Two laterally separated images from different focal planes can be obtained simultaneously by a single camera exposure, enabling the TIE phase recovery to be performed at frame rates that are only camera limited. Precise measurement of a microlens array validates the principle and demonstrates the accuracy of the method. Investigations of chemical-induced apoptosis and the phagocytosis process of macrophages are then presented, suggesting that the method developed can provide promising applications in the dynamic study of cellular processes.