Lens-free spectral light-field fusion microscopy for contrast- and resolution-enhanced imaging of biological specimens

Opt Lett. 2015 Aug 15;40(16):3862-5. doi: 10.1364/OL.40.003862.

Abstract

A lens-free spectral light-field fusion microscopy (LSLFM) system is presented for enabling contrast- and resolution-enhanced imaging of biological specimens. LSLFM consists of a pulsed multispectral lens-free microscope for capturing interferometric light-field encodings at various wavelengths, and Bayesian-based fusion to reconstruct a fused object light-field from the encodings. By fusing unique object detail information captured at different wavelengths, LSLFM can achieve improved resolution, contrast, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) over a single-channel lens-free microscopy system. A five-channel LSLFM system was developed and quantitatively evaluated to validate the design. Experimental results demonstrated that the LSLFM system provided SNR improvements of 6-12 dB, as well as a six-fold improvement in the dispersion index (DI), over that achieved using a single-channel, resolution-enhancing lens-free deconvolution microscopy system or its multi-wavelength counterpart. Furthermore, the LSLFM system achieved an increase in numerical aperture (NA) of ∼16% over a single-channel resolution-enhancing lens-free deconvolution microscopy system at the highest resolution wavelength used in the study. Samples of Staurastrum paradoxum, a waterborne algae, and human corneal epithelial cells were imaged using the system to illustrate its potential for enhanced imaging of biological specimens.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cornea / cytology
  • Desmidiales / cytology
  • Epithelial Cells / cytology
  • Equipment Design
  • Humans
  • Light*
  • Microscopy / instrumentation
  • Microscopy / methods*