High-Fidelity Single-Shot Quantitative Differential Phase Microscopy Using Pseudothermal Sagnac Interferometer

TL;DR

This paper introduces a high-fidelity, single-shot differential quantitative phase microscopy method using a pseudothermal Sagnac interferometer, enabling effective imaging of transparent biological samples with high stability.

Contribution

The method combines a common-path Sagnac interferometer with a pseudothermal source for high spatial sensitivity and robustness, advancing single-shot phase imaging capabilities.

Findings

Successfully imaged various biological samples including live cells and tissue.

Demonstrated high spatial sensitivity and environmental robustness.

Achieved effective single-shot differential phase imaging.

Abstract

In this letter, a high-fidelity single-shot differential quantitative phase microscopy (dQPM) method is presented to effectively image nearly transparent biological samples. The proposed method is based on a common-path Sagnac interferometric configuration, which provides superior temporal phase stability and robustness against environmental disturbances. The proposed system exploits a pseudothermal source to achieve high spatial sensitivity and generate dense interference fringes for effective single-shot differential quantitative phase imaging. The effectiveness of the proposed system is experimentally demonstrated with various samples, including polystyrene microspheres, a USAF phase target, fixed and live HeLa cells, and mouse kidney tissue.