Digital Holographic Multimodal Cross-Sectional Fluorescence and Quantitative Phase Imaging System

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Optics
• Microscopy
• Cell Biology

Background:

• Multimodal imaging offers synergistic advantages over single-modality techniques.
• Digital holography provides high-resolution, quantitative imaging capabilities.
• Simultaneous acquisition of fluorescence and phase information is crucial for comprehensive biological analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a multimodal imaging system for simultaneous cross-sectional fluorescence and quantitative phase imaging.
• To integrate two off-axis digital holographic microscopes for diverse data acquisition.
• To demonstrate the system's capability in analyzing biological specimens at different depths.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a common-path, single-shot off-axis incoherent digital holographic system for fluorescence imaging.
• Employing an off-axis coherent digital holographic microscopy in transmission mode for quantitative phase imaging.
• Conducting experiments on fluorescent beads and fluorescent protein-labeled moss cells (Physcomitrella patens).

Main Results:

• Successful simultaneous recording of cross-sectional fluorescence and quantitative phase images.
• Demonstration of imaging fluorescent beads and living cells at various axial depths.
• Validation of the system's feasibility through experimental results.

Conclusions:

• The proposed multimodal imaging system effectively integrates fluorescence and quantitative phase imaging.
• The system demonstrates potential for analyzing the functional and structural behavior of biological cells and tissues.
• This technology offers a promising tool for advanced biological research and diagnostics.