An imaging system is described for measuring the position or movement of a particle having a size of less than about 20 microns. The system comprises an optional sample holder configured to hold a sample with a particle, an optional illumination source configured to illuminate the sample, a lens having a magnification ratio from about 1:5 to about 5:1 and configured to generate the image of the sample, an image sensor having a pixel size of up to about 20 microns and configured to sense the image of the sample, and an image processor operatively connected to the image sensor to process the image of the particle in order to determine the position or movement of the particle. The dimension of the image of each particle is at least about 1.5 times the dimension of the particle multiplied by the magnification ratio of the lens, and the image of each particle is distributed on at least two pixels of the sensor. The imaged area of the sample is at least about one millimeter squared.

An imaging system is described for measuring the position or movement of a particle having a size of less than about 20 microns. The system comprises an optional sample holder configured to hold a sample with a particle, an optional illumination source configured to illuminate the sample, a lens having a magnification ratio from about 1:5 to about 5:1 and configured to generate the image of the sample, an image sensor having a pixel size of up to about 20 microns and configured to sense the image of the sample, and an image processor operatively connected to the image sensor to process the image of the particle in order to determine the position or movement of the particle. The dimension of the image of each particle is at least about 1.5 times the dimension of the particle multiplied by the magnification ratio of the lens, and the image of each particle is distributed on at least two pixels of the sensor. The imaged area of the sample is at least about one millimeter squared.

A system to generate image representations includes a first objective that receives a first light beam emitted from a sample and a second objective that receives a second light beam emitted from the sample, where the first light beam and the second light beam have conjugate phase. The system also includes a first diffractive element to receive the first light beam and separate it into a first plurality of diffractive light beams that are spatially distinct, and a second diffractive element to receive the second light beam and separate it into a second plurality of diffractive light beams that are spatially distinct. The system further includes a detector that receives the first and second plurality of diffractive light beams. The first plurality of diffractive light beams and the second plurality of diffractive light beams are simultaneously directed and focused onto different portions of an image plane of the detector.

A system to generate image representations includes a first objective that receives a first light beam emitted from a sample and a second objective that receives a second light beam emitted from the sample, where the first light beam and the second light beam have conjugate phase. The system also includes a first diffractive element to receive the first light beam and separate it into a first plurality of diffractive light beams that are spatially distinct, and a second diffractive element to receive the second light beam and separate it into a second plurality of diffractive light beams that are spatially distinct. The system further includes a detector that receives the first and second plurality of diffractive light beams. The first plurality of diffractive light beams and the second plurality of diffractive light beams are simultaneously directed and focused onto different portions of an image plane of the detector.

Disclosed is a method of, and associated apparatus for, determining an edge position relating to an edge of a feature comprised within an image, such as a scanning electron microscope image, which comprises noise. The method comprises determining a reference signal from said image; and determining said edge position with respect to said reference signal. The reference signal may be determined from the image by applying a 1-dimensional low-pass filter to the image in a direction parallel to an initial contour estimating the edge position.

Disclosed is a method of, and associated apparatus for, determining an edge position relating to an edge of a feature comprised within an image, such as a scanning electron microscope image, which comprises noise. The method comprises determining a reference signal from said image; and determining said edge position with respect to said reference signal. The reference signal may be determined from the image by applying a 1-dimensional low-pass filter to the image in a direction parallel to an initial contour estimating the edge position.

A lens-free microscope system for automatically analyzing yeast cell viability in a stained sample includes a portable, lens-free microscopy device that includes a housing containing a light source coupled to an optical fiber, the optical fiber spaced away several centimeters from an image sensor disposed at one end of the housing, wherein the stained sample is disposed on the image sensor or a sample holder adjacent to the image sensor. Hologram images are transferred to a computing device having image processing software contained therein, the image processing software identifying yeast cell candidates of interest from back-propagated images of the stained sample, whereby a plurality of spatial features are extracted from the yeast cell candidates of interest and subject to a trained machine learning model to classify the yeast cell candidates of interest as live or dead.

A multi-photon imaging system includes a laser module having a first channel for outputting a two-photon excitation laser pulse and a second channel for outputting a three-photon excitation laser pulse. The system further includes a first optical path for guiding the two-photon laser pulse from the first channel of the laser module and a second optical path for guiding the three-photon laser pulse from the second channel of the laser module. A microscope is also provided for simultaneously receiving the two-photon laser pulse from the first optical path and the three-photon laser pulse from the second optical path, and simultaneously, or with well controllable delays, delivering the two-photon laser pulse and the three-photon pulse to a target volume. The system further includes a photodetector configured to collect photons generated within the target volume in response to simultaneous excitation of the target volume by both the two-photon laser pulse and the three-photon laser pulse.

Some embodiments are directed to a technique having an off-axis interferometric geometry that is capable of spatially multiplexing at least six complex wavefronts, while using the same number of camera pixels typically needed for a single off-axis hologram encoding a single complex wavefront. Each of the at least six parallel complex wavefronts is encoded into an off-axis hologram with a different fringe orientation, and all complex wavefronts can be fully reconstructed. This technique is especially useful for highly dynamic samples, as it allows the acquisition of at least six complex wavefronts simultaneously, optimizing the amount of information that can be acquired in a single camera exposure. The off-axis multiplexing holographic system of some embodiments provide an off-axis holography modality that is more camera spatial bandwidth efficient than on-axis holography. Moreover, the off-axis interferometric system allows simple simultaneous acquisition of at least six holographic channels, making it attractive for imaging dynamics.

Some embodiments are directed to a technique having an off-axis interferometric geometry that is capable of spatially multiplexing at least six complex wavefronts, while using the same number of camera pixels typically needed for a single off-axis hologram encoding a single complex wavefront. Each of the at least six parallel complex wavefronts is encoded into an off-axis hologram with a different fringe orientation, and all complex wavefronts can be fully reconstructed. This technique is especially useful for highly dynamic samples, as it allows the acquisition of at least six complex wavefronts simultaneously, optimizing the amount of information that can be acquired in a single camera exposure. The off-axis multiplexing holographic system of some embodiments provide an off-axis holography modality that is more camera spatial bandwidth efficient than on-axis holography. Moreover, the off-axis interferometric system allows simple simultaneous acquisition of at least six holographic channels, making it attractive for imaging dynamics.