Refractive Index Morphology Imaging Microscope System Utilizing Polarization Multiplexing for Label-Free Single...

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Cell Biology
• Optical Imaging

Background:

• Label-free detection of internal cell substances and morphologies is vital for diagnosing diseases.
• Current methods for decoupling refractive index (RI) and morphology are complex and slow.
• A need exists for simple, rapid techniques to analyze live cell characteristics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel refractive index morphology imaging microscope (RIMIM) system.
• To enable simultaneous, label-free decoupling of intracellular refractive index distribution (IRID) and cell morphology.
• To demonstrate the system's utility in cytopathology detection.

Main Methods:

• Utilized polarization multiplexing for simultaneous degree of circular polarization (DOCP) and noninterferometric quantitative phase imaging (QPI).
• Employed a circular depolarization decay model (CDDM) to retrieve IRID from optical thickness and DOCP data.
• Decoupled cell thickness from phase results using the retrieved IRID.

Main Results:

• Successfully retrieved IRID and decoupled fine morphology in mouse forestomach carcinoma (MFC) and human kidney-2 (HK-2) cells.
• Demonstrated effective detection of membrane damage and morphological changes in ferroptotic HK-2 cells.
• Observed significant increases in surface fold measurements for damaged cells compared to normal cells.

Conclusions:

• The RIMIM system offers a simple and rapid method for label-free decoupling of RI and morphology in live cells.
• This technique shows significant potential for advancing cytopathology and disease detection.
• The RIMIM system provides a valuable tool for real-time analysis of cellular health and disease states.