Interferometric phase microscopy of red blood cells

Abstract

Quantitative phase imaging of cells with high accuracy in a completely noninvasive manner is a challenging task. To provide a proper solution to this important need, interferometric phase microscopy is described which relies on the off-axis interferometry, confocal microscopy and high-speed image capture technology. Phase retrieval from the single interferogram is done by algorithms based on the fast Fourier transform, traditional Hilbert transform and two-step Hilbert transform, respectively. Furthermore, a phase aberrations compensation approach is applied to correct the phase distribution of the red blood cells obtained via the three methods mentioned before without the pre-known knowledge for removing the wave front curvature introduced by the microscope objectives, off-axis imaging, etc., which otherwise hinders the phase reconstruction. The improved results reveal the better inner structures of the red blood cells. The development of quantitative phase imaging technique is shedding light on their future directions and applications for basic and clinical research.