Coherence-controlled holographic microscopy for live-cell quantitative phase imaging in turbid media

Abstract

In this work we present the coherence controlled holographic microscopy (CCHM)1 and its ability to image the living cells in turbid media2. The CCHM method and its advantages are introduced. A 'coherence gate effect'3, that enables imaging in turbid media, occurs owing to the low coherence illumination in our setup. The coherence gate effect is briefly theoretically explained and comparison of images with different illumination sources is shown. After that, the possibility of imaging in turbid media is applied to investigation of cell reactions to cytopathic turbid emulsions. In our experiments we used human cancer cells treated by biologically active phospholipids (BAPs). Cellular events leading to cell death, that would otherwise remain hidden in turbid media, are clearly observable and according to them cell fate can be deduced.