Active limited-angle tomographic phase microscope.

Area of Science:

• Optical Physics
• Microscopy
• Computational Imaging

Background:

• Holographic tomography offers 3D imaging capabilities but is often limited by projection angle range.
• Existing systems may require complex mechanical components for beam steering.
• Digital holographic microscopy provides high-resolution phase information but requires robust reconstruction algorithms for tomographic applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an active, optical-only holographic tomography system capable of limited-angle reconstruction.
• To integrate a spatial light modulator (SLM) for wavefront correction and beam steering.
• To implement and validate a compressed sensing-based tomographic reconstruction algorithm.

Main Methods:

• A modified Mach–Zehnder interferometer configured as a digital holographic microscope with an SLM.
• Diffraction-based beam steering using the SLM for achieving limited angular projections.
• Tomographic reconstruction using total variation minimization, a compressed sensing technique, for non-piecewise constant samples.

Main Results:

• Demonstration of an active, fast, and robust holographic tomography system.
• Successful wavefront correction using the SLM to improve measurement accuracy.
• Accurate 3D reconstruction of both calibrated micro-objects and biological C2C12 myoblast cells using the novel processing path.

Conclusions:

• The developed system effectively overcomes limited angle projection challenges in holographic tomography.
• The integration of SLM and compressed sensing reconstruction offers enhanced accuracy and new capabilities for digital holographic microscopy.
• The system shows promise for advanced 3D imaging of micro- and nano-scale objects, including biological samples.