Visualization of fast-moving cells in vivo using digital holographic video microscopy

Digital in-line holography offers some significant advantages over conventional optical holography and microscopy to image biological specimens. By combining holography with digital video microscopy, an in-line holographic video microscope is developed and is capable of recording spatial 3D holographic images of biological specimens, while preserving the time dimension. The system enables high-speed video recording of fast cell movement, such as the rapid movement of blood cells in the blood stream in vivo. This capability is demonstrated with observations of fast 3-D movement of live cells in suspension cultures in response to a gentle shake to the Petri dish. The experimental and numerical procedures are incorporated with a fast reconstruction algorithm for reconstruction of holographic video frames at various planes (z axis) from the hologram and along the time axis. The current system enables both lateral and longitudinal resolutions down to a few micrometers. Postreconstruction processing of background subtraction is utilized to eliminate noise caused by scattered light, thereby enabling visualization of, for example, blood streams of live Xenopos tadpoles. The combination of digital holography and microscopy offers unique advantages for imaging of fast moving cells and other biological particles in three dimensions in vivo with high spatial and temporal resolution.