Improved phase sensitivity in spectral domain phase microscopy using line-field illumination and self phase-referencing

Rapid imaging and product screening with low-cost line-field Fourier domain optical coherence tomography

Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) is a well-established imaging technique that provides high-resolution internal structure images of an object at a fast speed. Modern FD-OCT systems typically operate at speeds of 40,000-100,000 A-scans/s, but are priced at least tens of thousands of pounds. In this study, we demonstrate a line-field FD-OCT (LF-FD-OCT) system that achieves an OCT imaging speed of 100,000 A-scan/s at a hardware cost of thousands of pounds. We demonstrate the potential of LF-FD-OCT for biomedical and industrial imaging applications such as corneas, 3D printed electronics, and printed circuit boards.

Interferometric imaging of thermal expansion for temperature control in retinal laser therapy

Precise control of the temperature rise is a prerequisite for proper photothermal therapy. In retinal laser therapy, the heat deposition is primarily governed by the melanin concentration, which can significantly vary across the retina and from patient to patient. In this work, we present a method for determining the optical and thermal properties of layered materials, directly applicable to the retina, using low-energy laser heating and phase-resolved optical coherence tomography (pOCT). The method is demonstrated on a polymer-based tissue phantom heated with a laser pulse focused onto an absorbing layer buried below the phantom's surface. Using a line-scan spectral-domain pOCT, optical path length changes induced by the thermal expansion were extracted from sequential B-scans. The material properties were then determined by matching the optical path length changes to a thermo-mechanical model developed for fast computation. This method determined the absorption coefficient with a precision of 2.5% and the temperature rise with a precision of about 0.2°C from a single laser exposure, while the peak did not exceed 8°C during 1 ms pulse, which is well within the tissue safety range and significantly more precise than other methods.

High-speed adaptive optics line-scan OCT for cellular-resolution optoretinography

Optoretinography-the non-invasive, optical imaging of light-induced functional activity in the retina-stands to provide a critical biomarker for testing the safety and efficacy of new therapies as well as their rapid translation to the clinic. Optical phase change in response to light, as readily accessible in phase-resolved OCT, offers a path towards all-optical imaging of retinal function. However, typical human eye motion adversely affects phase stability. In addition, recording fast light-induced retinal events necessitates high-speed acquisition. Here, we introduce a high-speed line-scan spectral domain OCT with adaptive optics (AO), aimed at volumetric imaging and phase-resolved acquisition of retinal responses to light. By virtue of parallel acquisition of an entire retinal cross-section (B-scan) in a single high-speed camera frame, depth-resolved tomograms at speeds up to 16 kHz were achieved with high sensitivity and phase stability. To optimize spectral and spatial resolution, an anamorphic detection paradigm was introduced, enabling improved light collection efficiency and signal roll-off compared to traditional methods. The benefits in speed, resolution and sensitivity were exemplified in imaging nanometer-millisecond scale light-induced optical path length changes in cone photoreceptor outer segments. With 660 nm stimuli, individual cone responses readily segregated into three clusters, corresponding to long, middle, and short-wavelength cones. Recording such optoretinograms on spatial scales ranging from individual cones, to 100 µm-wide retinal patches offers a robust and sensitive biomarker for cone function in health and disease.

Studying nucleic envelope and plasma membrane mechanics of eukaryotic cells using confocal reflectance interferometric microscopy

Mechanical stress on eukaryotic nucleus has been implicated in a diverse range of diseases including muscular dystrophy and cancer metastasis. Today, there are very few non-perturbative methods to quantify nuclear mechanical properties. Interferometric microscopy, also known as quantitative phase microscopy (QPM), is a powerful tool for studying red blood cell biomechanics. The existing QPM tools, however, have not been utilized to study biomechanics of complex eukaryotic cells either due to lack of depth sectioning, limited phase measurement sensitivity, or both. Here, we present depth-resolved confocal reflectance interferometric microscopy as the next generation QPM to study nuclear and plasma membrane biomechanics. The proposed system features multiple confocal scanning foci, affording 1.5 micron depth-resolution and millisecond frame rate. Furthermore, a near common-path interferometer enables quantifying nanometer-scale membrane fluctuations with better than 200 picometers sensitivity. Our results present accurate quantification of nucleic envelope and plasma membrane fluctuations in embryonic stem cells.

Biomechanical studies of eukaryotic cells have been limited due to low sensitivity and axial resolution in interferometric imaging. Here, the authors present depth-resolved confocal reflectance interferometric microscopy with high sensitivity and temporal resolution, which enables quantification of nucleic envelope and plasma membrane fluctuations.

Reflection phase microscopy using spatio-temporal coherence of light

Many disease states are associated with cellular biomechanical changes as markers. Label-free phase microscopes are used to quantify thermally driven interface fluctuations, which allow the deduction of important cellular rheological properties. Here, the spatio-temporal coherence of light was used to implement a high-speed reflection phase microscope with superior depth selectivity and higher phase sensitivity. Nanometric scale motion of cytoplasmic structures can be visualized with fine details and three-dimensional resolution. Specifically, the spontaneous fluctuation occurring on the nuclear membrane of a living cell was observed at video rate. By converting the reflection phase into displacement, the sensitivity in quantifying nuclear membrane fluctuation was found to be about one nanometer. A reflection phase microscope can potentially elucidate biomechanical mechanisms of pathological and physiological processes.

Deformation velocity imaging using optical coherence tomography and its applications to the cornea

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) can monitor human donor corneas non-invasively during the de-swelling process following storage for corneal transplantation, but currently only resultant thickness as a function of time is extracted. To visualize and quantify the mechanism of de-swelling, we present a method exploiting the nanometer sensitivity of the Fourier phase in OCT data to image deformation velocities. The technique was demonstrated by non-invasively showing during de-swelling that osmotic flow through an intact epithelium is negligible and removing the endothelium approximately doubled the initial flow at that interface. The increased functional data further enabled the validation of a mathematical model of the cornea. Included is an efficient method of measuring high temporal resolution (1 minute demonstrated) corneal thickness, using automated collection and semi-automated graph search segmentation. These methods expand OCT capabilities to measure volume change processes for tissues and materials.

Motion correction using overlapped data correlation based on a spatial-spectral encoded parallel optical coherence tomography

This paper presents an approach to remove motion artifacts based on a spatial-spectral encoded parallel OCT (SSE-POCT) system, where encoded rectangular illumination is employed. Motion artifacts within a B-scan are avoided due to parallel detection intrinsic to parallel OCT, while those between successive B-scans are estimated and corrected by a proposed overlapped data correlation (ODC) algorithm. To preserve axial resolution, decoded B-scan corresponding to complete spectrum is stitched from successive encoded B-scans after motion correction. Imaging is conducted on several samples under preset motion trajectories, and OCT images with unnoticed motion artifacts and well-preserved resolutions are reconstructed. The approach based on the developed SSE-POCT system and the proposed ODC algorithm for motion correction can be applicable for in vivo imaging where uncontrolled motion is usually unavoidable.

Robust phase unwrapping for phase images in Fourier domain Doppler optical coherence tomography

To solve the 2 ? phase ambiguity for phase-resolved Doppler images in Doppler optical coherence tomography, we present a modified network programming technique for the first time to the best of our knowledge. The proposed method assumes that error of the discrete derivatives between unwrapped phase image and wrapped phase image can be arbitrary values instead of integer-multiple of 2 ? , which makes the real-phase restoration accurate and robust against noise. We compared our proposed method with the network programming method. Parameters including root-mean-square-error and noise amplification degree were adopted for comparison. The experimental study on simulated images, phantom, and real-vessel OCT images were performed. The proposed method consistently achieves optimal results.

Fourier phase in Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography

Phase of an electromagnetic wave propagating through a sample-of-interest is well understood in the context of quantitative phase imaging in transmission-mode microscopy. In the past decade, Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography has been used to extend quantitative phase imaging to the reflection-mode. Unlike transmission-mode electromagnetic phase, however, the origin and characteristics of reflection-mode Fourier phase are poorly understood, especially in samples with a slowly varying refractive index. In this paper, the general theory of Fourier phase from first principles is presented, and it is shown that Fourier phase is a joint estimate of subresolution offset and mean spatial frequency of the coherence-gated sample refractive index. It is also shown that both spectral-domain phase microscopy and depth-resolved spatial-domain low-coherence quantitative phase microscopy are special cases of this general theory. Analytical expressions are provided for both, and simulations are presented to explain and support the theoretical results. These results are further used to show how Fourier phase allows the estimation of an axial mean spatial frequency profile of the sample, along with depth-resolved characterization of localized optical density change and sample heterogeneity. Finally, a Fourier phase-based explanation of Doppler optical coherence tomography is also provided.

Identification of surface defects on glass by parallel spectral domain optical coherence tomography

Defects can dramatically degrade glass quality, and automatic inspection is a trend of quality control in modern industry. One challenge in inspection in an uncontrolled environment is the misjudgment of fake defects (such as dust particles) as surface defects. Fortunately, optical changes within the periphery of a surface defect are usually introduced while those of a fake defect are not. The existence of changes within the defect peripheries can be adopted as a criterion for defect identification. However, modifications within defect peripheries can be too small to be noticeable in intensity based optical image of the glass surface, and misjudgments of modifications may occur due to the incorrectness in defect demarcation. Thus, a sensitive and reliable method for surface defect identification is demanded. To this end, a nondestructive method based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) is proposed to precisely demarcate surface defects and sensitively measure surface deformations. Suspected surface defects are demarcated using the algorithm based on complex difference from expectation. Modifications within peripheries of suspected surface defects are mapped by phase information from complex interface signal. In this way, surface defects are discriminated from fake defects using a parallel spectral domain OCT (SD-OCT) system. Both simulations and experiments are conducted, and these preliminary results demonstrate the advantage of the proposed method to identify glass surface defects.

High-sensitive and broad-dynamic-range quantitative phase imaging with spectral domain phase microscopy

Spectral domain phase microscopy for high-sensitive and broad-dynamic-range quantitative phase imaging is presented. The phase retrieval is realized in the depth domain to maintain a high sensitivity, while the phase information obtained in the spectral domain is exploited to extend the dynamic range of optical path difference. Sensitivity advantage of phase retrieved in the depth domain over that in the spectral domain is thoroughly investigated. The performance of the proposed depth domain phase based approach is illustrated by phase imaging of a resolution target and an onion skin.

Phase registration based on matching of phase distribution characteristics and its application in FDOCT

Phase fluctuations in a two-transverse-dimensional scanning Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (FDOCT) seriously affect in vivo phase related applications. The phase difference between two A-scans sampled at the same scanning position or adjacent scanning position is acquired by matching of the phase distribution characteristics on the surface of two A-scans. Finger and palm scanning experiments are performed and defocused images of finger and palm are recovered based on Fresnel scalar diffraction algorithm by using phase compensated OCT complex signals. To further prove the performance of the proposed method, human eye scanning experiments are also performed and blood flow images of retina are extracted from the phase registration results. The accurate, fast and simple phase compensation method is critical for in vivo phase related applications.

Dynamic spectroscopic phase microscopy for quantifying hemoglobin concentration and dynamic membrane fluctuation in red blood cells

We report a technique for simultaneous label-free quantification of cytoplasmic hemoglobin Hb concentration and dynamic membrane fluctuation in individual red blood cells (RBCs). Spectroscopic phase microscopy equipped with three different coherent laser sources and a color detector records three wavelength-dependent quantitative phase images in a single shot of a color-coded hologram. Using molecular specific dispersion, we demonstrate the extraction of Hb concentration and the dynamic membrane fluctuation from individual RBCs.

Real-time quantitative phase imaging with a spatial phase-shifting algorithm

This Letter reports on the use of a spatial phase-shifting algorithm in a fast, straightforward method of real-time quantitative phase imaging. The computation time for phase extraction is five times faster than a Fourier transform and twice as fast as a Hilbert transform. The fact that the phase extraction from an interferogram of 512 × 512 pixels takes less than 8.93 ms with a typical desktop computer suggests the proposed method can be readily applied to high-speed dynamic quantitative phase imaging. The proposed method of quantitative phase imaging is effective and sufficiently general for application to the dynamic phenomena of biological samples.

Depth-Encoded Spectral Domain Phase Microscopy for Simultaneous Multi-Site Nanoscale Optical Measurements

Spectral domain phase microscopy (SDPM) is an extension of spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) that exploits the extraordinary phase stability of spectrometer-based systems with common-path geometry to resolve sub-wavelength displacements within a sample volume. This technique has been implemented for high resolution axial displacement and velocity measurements in biological samples, but since axial displacement information is acquired serially along the lateral dimension, it has been unable to measure fast temporal dynamics in extended samples. Depth-Encoded SDPM (DESDPM) uses multiple sample arms with unevenly spaced common path reference reflectors to multiplex independent SDPM signals from separate lateral positions on a sample simultaneously using a single interferometer, thereby reducing the time required to detect unique optical events to the integration period of the detector. Here, we introduce DESDPM and demonstrate the ability to acquire useful phase data concurrently at two laterally separated locations in a phantom sample as well as a biological preparation of spontaneously beating chick cardiomyocytes. DESDPM may be a useful tool for imaging fast cellular phenomena such as nervous conduction velocity or contractile motion.

Single-shot full-field reflection phase microscopy

We present a full-field reflection phase microscope that combines low-coherence interferometry and off-axis digital holographic microscopy (DHM). The reflection-based DHM provides highly sensitive and a single-shot imaging of cellular dynamics while the use of low coherence source provides a depth-selective measurement. The setup uniquely uses a diffraction grating in the reference arm to generate an interference image of uniform contrast over the entire field-of-view albeit low-coherence light source. We have measured the path-length sensitivity of our instrument to be approximately 21 picometers/Hz that makes it suitable for nanometer-scale full-field measurement of membrane dynamics in live cells.

Single-shot slightly-off-axis interferometry based Hilbert phase microscopy of red blood cells

A slightly-off-axis interferometry based Hilbert phase microscopy (HPM) method is developed to quantitatively obtain the phase distribution. Owing to its single-shot nature and details detection ability, HPM can be used to investigate rapid phenomena that take place in transparent structures such as biological cells. Moreover, the slightly-off-axis interferometry owns higher effective bandwidth and more sensitivity than traditional off-axis interferometry. The proposed method takes advantages of the above techniques to obtain the phase image of the red blood cells and compared with the traditional off-axis interferometry and phase retrieval algorithm based on the FFT. The experimental results show that the proposed method owns fine spatial details and real-time imaging ability. We are sure that the proposed method provides a breakthrough for real-time observing and quantitative analyzing of cells in vivo.

Spectral-domain phase microscopy with improved sensitivity using two-dimensional detector arrays

In this work we demonstrate the use of two-dimensional detectors to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and sensitivity in spectral-domain phase microscopy for subnanometer accuracy measurements. We show that an increase in SNR can be obtained, from 82 dB to 105 dB, using 150 pixel lines of a low-cost CCD camera as compared to a single line, to compute an averaged axial scan. In optimal mechanical conditions, phase stability as small as 92 μrad, corresponding to 6 pm displacement accuracy, could be obtained. We also experimentally demonstrate the benefit of spatial-averaging in terms of the reduction of signal fading due to an axially moving sample. The applications of the improved system are illustrated by imaging live cells in culture.