Julianna Kostencka

Noise suppressed optical diffraction tomography with autofocus correction

We propose a novel tomographic measurement approach that enables a noise suppressed characterization of microstructures. The idea of this work is based on a finding that coherent noise in the input phase data generates an artificial circular structure whose magnitude is the highest at the centre of tomographic reconstruction. This method decreases the noise level by applying an unconventional tomographic measurement configuration with an object deliberately shifted with respect to the rotation axis. This enables a spatial separation between the reconstructed sample structure and the area of the largest refractive index perturbations. The input phase data defocusing that is a by-product of the introduced modification is numerically corrected with an automatic focus correction algorithm. The proposed method is validated with simulations and experimental measurements of an optical microtip.

Accurate approach to capillary-supported optical diffraction tomography.

A new holographic data processing path for accurate quantitative tomographic reconstruction of 3D samples placed in a cylindrical capillary is proposed. The method considers strong unintentional focusing effects induced by the inner cylindrical boundary of the vessel: 1) introduction of cylindrical wave illumination of a sample, and 2) object wave deformation. The first issue is addressed by developing an arbitrary illumination tomographic reconstruction algorithm based on filtered backpropagation, while the second by a novel correction algorithm utilizing the optical rays analysis. Moreover, the processing path includes a novel holographic method for correction of spherical aberration related to refraction at a planar surface. Utility of the developed data processing path is proven with numerical simulations and experimental measurement of a specially prepared test sample.

Computational and experimental study on accuracy of off-axis reconstructions in optical diffraction tomography

Abstract. We present a study on spatial changes in the accuracy of tomographic reconstructions obtained with two of the most popular tomographic reconstruction algorithms for diffraction tomography—filtered backprojection (FBPJ) and Rytov-based filtered backpropagation (FBPP). We find out that not only FBPJ but also FBPP suffers from a significant loss of accuracy in the off-axis regions of a tomographic reconstruction and this effect is stronger for objects with a high refractive index contrast. Moreover, we propose some modifications to FBPP which allow for significant improvement of the off-axis performance of the algorithm. In the modified algorithm, called the extended depth of focus filtered backpropagation (EDOF-FBPP), scattered waves are backpropagated using a rigorous propagation algorithm, and then the Rytov approximation is applied on extended EDOF images. This modification (1) prevents violation of the Rytov validity condition due to the defocus of scattered waves and (2) suppresses unwrapping errors. The tomographic reconstruction algorithms FBPJ, FBPP, and EDOF-FBPP are extensively tested with numerical simulations supported with rigorous wave scattering methods. The experimental evaluation of the performance of the tomographic algorithms is provided with a tomographic measurement of an optical microtip located 21  μm from the central axis of the reconstruction.

Holographic tomography with scanning of illumination: space-domain reconstruction for spatially invariant accuracy

The paper presents two novel, space-domain reconstruction algorithms for holographic tomography utilizing scanning of illumination and a fixed detector that is highly suitable for imaging of living biomedical specimens. The first proposed algorithm is an adaptation of the filtered backpropagation to the scanning illumination tomography. Its space-domain implementation enables avoiding the error-prone interpolation in the Fourier domain, which is a significant problem of the state-of-the-art tomographic algorithm. The second proposed algorithm is a modified version of the former, which ensures the spatially invariant reconstruction accuracy. The utility of the proposed algorithms is demonstrated with numerical simulations and experimental measurement of a cancer cell.

Absolute shape measurement of high NA focusing microobjects in digital holographic microscope with arbitrary spherical wave illumination

In this paper a new high NA shape measurement technique working with an arbitrary spherical wave illumination is presented. The main contribution of this work are formulas, derived from exact reflection and refraction laws for both the reflection and the transmission configurations, which enable accurate shape calculations in systems with an arbitrary location of the illuminating point source. The proposed algorithms permit measurement of multiple samples of arbitrary shapes using a single hologram. An accuracy of this method is confirmed with numerical simulations, which show superiority of this approach over a standard procedure utilizing paraxial approximation. The method is validated experimentally using a reflective measurement of a microlens topography, whose NA in reflection is 0.7. Furthermore, a new measurement configuration is presented that extends the capabilities of transmission systems for characterization of high gradient shapes.

Problems and Solutions in 3-D Analysis of Phase Biological Objects by Optical Diffraction Tomography

Optical Diffraction Tomography is a technique for retrieving a 3-dimensional refractive index distribution from phase objects without destroying the structure of the samples. In the article we discuss the selection and implementation of full and limited angle version of tomographic reconstruction processes together with the analysis of different methods for gathering projections. We present two efficient implementations of full and limited angle tomographic systems including total processing paths and providing the examplary results of 3-D refractive index determination measurements of biological samples.

High-precision topography measurement through accurate in-focus plane detection with hybrid digital holographic microscope and white light interferometer module

High-precision topography measurement of micro-objects using interferometric and holographic techniques can be realized provided that the in-focus plane of an imaging system is very accurately determined. Therefore, in this paper we propose an accurate technique for in-focus plane determination, which is based on coherent and incoherent light. The proposed method consists of two major steps. First, a calibration of the imaging system with an amplitude object is performed with a common autofocusing method using coherent illumination, which allows for accurate localization of the in-focus plane position. In the second step, the position of the detected in-focus plane with respect to the imaging system is measured with white light interferometry. The obtained distance is used to accurately adjust a sample with the precision required for the measurement. The experimental validation of the proposed method is given for measurement of high-numerical-aperture microlenses with subwavelength accuracy.

Digital holographic microscope for measurement of high gradient deep topography object based on superresolution concept

In this Letter, a novel concept based on superresolution technique that enables the measurement of high gradient and deep topography objects using digital holographic (DH) microscopy is introduced. The major problem of DH systems is limited NA that prohibits the metrological characterization of object features of high frequencies. The proposed technique has the ability to extend spatial frequency spectrum of the measured topography by applying multidirectional plane wave illumination, which is experimentally realized with a grating. The technique recovers sample topography from the set of object waves with different object spectra that are converted into a set of topographies by using an algorithm which takes into account refraction. Application of this novel approach is experimentally validated by characterization of high gradient topography objects with maximum angle of tangent 65°.

Digital holography with multidirectional illumination by LCoS SLM for topography measurement of high gradient reflective microstructures

In this paper we present a method for topography measurement of high gradient reflective microstructures that overcomes the limited numerical aperture (NA) of a digital holographic (DH) system working in reflection. We consider a case when a DH system is unable to register the light reflected from the full sample area due to insufficient NA. To overcome this problem, we propose digital holography in a microscope configuration with an afocal imaging system and a modified object arm in the measurement setup. The proposed modification includes application of a spatial light modulator (SLM) based on liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) technology for multidirectional plane wave illumination. The variable off-axis illumination enables characterization of the sample regions that cannot be imaged by the limited NA of a classical DH system utilizing on-axis illumination. In the proposed method, the final object topography is merged from a set of captured object waves corresponding to various illumination directions using a novel automatic algorithm. The proposed technique is experimentally validated by full-field measurement of a silicon mold with a high gradient of shape.

Holographic method for capillary induced aberration compensation for 3D tomographic measurements of living cells

In this paper we present a method for numerical correction of phase images captured in a digital holographic microscopy (DHM) setup adapted to tomographic measurement of biological objects. The purpose of the correction is a removal of the object wave deformation associated with a fluid filled fiber capillary, which is used in DHM system to enable manipulation of a specimen. The proposed correction procedure is based on a simple concept of the phase subtraction, preceded by an estimation of the aberration profile using areas of a hologram that have not been affected by the object. The phase subtraction methodology, developed on the ground of the thin element approximation, is very effective in the visual enhancement of phase images; however, its application to quantitative measurement of micro-objects is questionable. Therefore, in this paper we verify the possible use of the phase subtraction methodology in DHM by performing a numerical experiment, supported with the finite difference time domain method (FDTD), which allows us to identify the residual error of the correction. The FDTD computation reveals that the phase subtraction methodology is insufficient to properly remove the influence of a capillary, in particular to compensate for two effects associated with the focusing properties of the aberration: a transversal shift of the image and the change of its magnification. Nevertheless, the possibility of the visual improvement of holographic images of a living human leukemia cell using the outlined method is demonstrated.