Holographic pixel super-resolution in portable lensless on-chip microscopy using a fiber-optic array.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Microscopy
• Holography

Background:

• Traditional microscopes often lack portability and high resolution for field use.
• Diagnosing infectious diseases in remote areas requires accessible and accurate diagnostic tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a portable, lensless, on-chip microscope with high resolution and wide field-of-view.
• To demonstrate the utility of this microscope for diagnosing infectious diseases, specifically malaria.

Main Methods:

• Utilized partially coherent digital in-line holography with a low-cost microcontroller-controlled LED illumination system.
• Employed a digital sensor array to capture lensfree holograms, processed with a pixel super-resolution algorithm.
• Achieved <1 µm resolution over a 24 mm² field-of-view without mechanical scanning.

Main Results:

• Developed a compact (95 g) and portable lensless on-chip microscope.
• Successfully imaged human malaria parasites (Plasmodium falciparum) in thin blood smears with high resolution.
• Demonstrated the capability for wide-field imaging without mechanical scanning.

Conclusions:

• The developed lensless on-chip microscope offers a portable, high-resolution imaging solution.
• This technology shows significant promise for point-of-care diagnostics in resource-limited settings.
• This represents the first successful imaging of malaria parasites using a lensfree on-chip microscope.