Optical sectioning of unlabeled samples using bright-field microscopy

The bright-field (BF) optical microscope is a traditional bioimaging tool that has been recently tested for depth discrimination during evaluation of specimen morphology; however, existing approaches require dedicated instrumentation or extensive computer modeling. We report a direct method for three-dimensional (3D) imaging in BF microscopy, applicable to label-free samples, where we use Köhler illumination in the coherent regime and conventional digital image processing filters to achieve optical sectioning. By visualizing fungal, animal tissue, and plant samples and comparing with light-sheet fluorescence microscopy imaging, we demonstrate the accuracy and applicability of the method, showing how the standard microscope is an effective 3D imaging device.