High-precision microscopic phase imaging without phase unwrapping for cancer cell identification

Abstract

Experiments for cell identification are presented using a high-precision cell phase measurement system that does not require any phase unwrapping. This system is based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer using a phase-locking technique, and it measures the change in optical path length while the sample is scanned across the optical axis. The spatial resolution is estimated to be less than 1.1μm. The sensitivity of optical path length difference is estimated to be less than 2nm. Using experiments, we investigate the potential of this approach for cancer cell identification. In our preliminary experiments, cancer cells were distinguished from normal cells through comparison of optical path length differences.