EDoF-Miniscope: a computational miniscope for extended depth-of-field neural imaging

Abstract

We demonstrate an extended-depth-of-field miniscope (EDoF-Miniscope) which utilizes an optimized binary diffractive optical element (DOE) to achieve a 2.8x axial elongation in twin foci when integrated on the pupil plane. We optimize our DOE through a genetic algorithm, which utilizes a Fourier optics forward model to consider the native aberrations of the primary gradient refractive index (GRIN) lens, optical property of the submersion media, the geometric effects of the target fluorescent sources and axial intensity loss from tissue scattering to create a robust EDoF. We demonstrate that our platform achieves high contrast signals that can be recovered through a simple filter across 5-μm and 10-μm beads embedded in scattering phantoms, and fixed mouse brain samples.