Quantitative analysis of shape and volume changes in activated thrombocytes in real time by single-shot spatial light...

We suggest to use a combination of optical tweezers and single-image quantitative differential interference contrast (DIC) emulated by a spatial light modulator (SLM) to study physiological shape changes in thrombocytes after activation and demonstrate the effectiveness of this system for the given task. A specially designed phase mask displayed at the SLM enables quantitative phase calculation from only a single recording. The optical tweezers stabilize trapped thrombocytes for long-time monitoring of changes in the optical thickness profile of thrombocytes during activation by adenosine diphosphate (ADP).