# Fabry‐Pérot Microscopy for Improved Contrast Enhancement and Quantitative Phase Imaging

**Authors:** Johannes Pittrich, Georg von Köller, Christoph Dillitzer, Daniel Sandner, Ellen Emken, Julia Sistermanns, Zsuzsanna Wolf, Martin Schlegel, Gregor Weirich, Reinhard Kienberger, Oliver Hayden, Hristo Iglev

PMC · DOI: 10.1002/jbio.70217 · Journal of Biophotonics · 2026-01-18

## TL;DR

Fabry-Pérot microscopy improves contrast and enables quantitative imaging of biological samples without labels.

## Contribution

A new microscopy technique using a tunable optical cavity for enhanced contrast and phase imaging.

## Key findings

- FPM provides over 20-fold contrast enhancement compared to conventional microscopy.
- The technique enables label-free visualization of subcellular features and cell differentiation.
- FPM is compatible with standard optics and works under static and flow conditions.

## Abstract

Fabry‐Pérot microscopy (FPM) is a label‐free imaging technique that combines a microfluidic optical cavity with a tunable light source to enhance contrast and enable quantitative phase imaging. It integrates a fixed‐length Fabry‐Pérot cavity into a coated microfluidic channel and utilizes resonance‐based interference to selectively highlight structures with specific optical thickness. This design preserves lateral resolution while providing > 20‐fold contrast enhancement compared to conventional wide‐field microscopy. Demonstrations with human oral epithelial cells, blood components, and 
E. coli
 show clear visualization of subcellular features and differentiation of cell types. Notably, FPM achieves imaging through spectral tuning rather than mechanical scanning, ensuring faster and more stable operation. The system is compatible with standard microscope optics and works under both static and flow conditions, offering significant potential for high‐throughput cytometry, biological research, and in vitro diagnostics. These results establish FPM as a versatile extension of wide‐field microscopy, enabling contrast‐tunable, quantitative imaging of biomedical samples.

Fabry‐Pérot Microscopy (FPM) integrates a tunable laser and on‐chip optical cavity to amplify contrast within biological samples, achieving up to 20× enhancement. This label‐free technique enables quantitative phase imaging and discrimination of different cell types based on their optical thickness.

## Full-text entities

- **Species:** Escherichia coli (E. coli, species) [taxon 562], Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606]

## Full text

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## Figures

4 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12812438/full.md

## References

35 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12812438/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12812438