Single-shot three-dimensional biological imaging has broad applications in basic and clinical research as well as clinical use. We propose a three-dimensional imaging system that can be configured in transmission, reflection or fluorescence modes. This system is capable of recording/measuring the amplitude, phase and polarization of an optical wavefront in a single shot and reconstructing numerically objects with three-dimensional volumetric information. Built upon the principle of digital holography (DH), the proposed system uses a reference beam to interfere with the light field under investigation and digitally records/measures the in-phase and quadrature interference patterns. Single-shot in-phase and quadrature interference pattern recording is made possible by incorporating technologies widely used in coherent optical communication. Specifically, a free-space optical 90° hybrid is employed to measure the complex (real and imaginary) optical field from transmission through, reflection from or fluorescence of biological samples. We have constructed a single-shot phase-shifting digital holography system and experimentally demonstrated its operation for the first time.

Date Published: 6 March 2013
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 8668, Medical Imaging 2013: Physics of Medical Imaging, 86684D (6 March 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2008139

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8668:
Medical Imaging 2013: Physics of Medical Imaging
Robert M. Nishikawa; Bruce R. Whiting; Christoph Hoeschen, Editor(s)