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Quantitative Optical Microscopy: Measurement of Cellular Biophysical Features with a Standard Optical Microscope
Published on: April 7, 2014
High-fidelity optical diffraction tomography of live organisms using iodixanol refractive index matching
Dohyeon Lee1,2, Moosung Lee1,2, Haechan Kwak1,2
1Department of Physics, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
Optical diffraction tomography (ODT) enables the three-dimensional (3D) refractive index (RI) reconstruction. However, when the RI difference between a sample and a medium increases, the effects of light scattering become significant, preventing the acquisition of high-quality and accurate RI reconstructions. Herein, we present a method for high-fidelity ODT by introducing non-toxic RI matching media. Optimally reducing the RI contrast enhances the fidelity and accuracy of 3D RI reconstruction, enabling visualization of the morphology and intra-organization of live biological samples without producing toxic effects. We validate our method using various biological organisms, including C. albicans and C. elegans.
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