Quantitative phase microscopy is applied to image temporal changes in the refractive index (RI) distributions of solutions created by microbicidal films undergoing hydration. We present a novel method of using an engineered polydimethylsiloxane structure as a static phase reference to facilitate calibration of the absolute RI across the entire field. We present a study of dynamic structural changes in microbicidal films during hydration and subsequent dissolution. With assumptions about the smoothness of the phase changes induced by these films, we calculate absolute changes in the percentage of film in regions across the field of view.

Date Published: 1 December 2011
PDF: 4 pages
J. Biomed. Opt. 16(12) 120510 doi: 10.1117/1.3665439
Published in: Journal of Biomedical Optics Volume 16, Issue 12