A method of analyzing a sample receiving a particle of interest, including: defining a reference point located on a first interface of the sample, or at a known distance from the sample, along the optical axis of the optical system; acquiring a reference image transmission of the sample, the object plane of the optical system being located at a known distance from the reference point along an axis parallel to the optical axis of the optical system, and the particle of interest being located outside of the object plane; using the reference image, digitally constructing a series of reconstructed images, each associated with a predetermined offset of the object plane along the optical axis of the optical system; and using the series of reconstructed images, determining the distance along an axis parallel to the optical axis of the optical system, between the particle of interest and the reference point.

The invention relates to a method for observing a sample (15), comprising the illumination of the sample using a light source (11) and the acquisition of an image (Io) of the sample using an image sensor (16), the sample being disposed between the image sensor and the light source. Iterative steps are applied to the acquired image (Io), also referred to as a hologram, comprising: a single iterative numerical propagation (h), such as to estimate a complex image (A) of the sample in a reconstruction plane (P10) or in a detection plane (P0), in which the image sensor extends. The complex image can be used for the characterisation of the sample.

A system is provided for observing objects on a substrate which includes a light source that emits polarized light rectilinearly along a first direction, a holder that receives said substrate having a surface and includes objects, wherein at least one of the holder or the substrate are translucent or opaque, a detector that collects the backscattered light from the interaction between the light emitting by the light source and the objects, a polarization splitter and a quarter-wave plate wherein the polarization splitter and the quarter-wave plate are arranged so that the polarization splitter directs light towards the substrate through the quarter-wave plate, and wherein the light forms a beam and the system modifies the size of the beam. The system thus allows one to observe objects on a non-transparent substrate.

Provided are a morphological cell parameter-based erythrocyte test method and digital holographic microscope used therein, and the morphological cell parameter-based erythrocyte test method includes performing modeling to create a 3D image of an erythrocyte to be tested and measuring morphological parameters of the erythrocyte based on the 3D image. The morphological cell parameter-based erythrocyte test method performs modeling of a 3D image for an erythrocyte to be tested and measures morphological parameters of the erythrocyte based on the 3D image. Therefore, time and effort consumed in measurement may be reduced, and accuracy of the measurement is excellent.

A device for acquisition of particles present in a sample includes a spatially coherent light source, an optical system, and an image sensor placed in the focal plane of the optical system. The image sensor is configured to capture an intensity image. A computational unit of the device is configured to construct a series of electromagnetic propagation matrices obtained for a plurality of defocusing offsets relative to a plane of focus of the optics. The computational unit is also configured to determine a first average focused electromagnetic matrix for the particles from the series of electromagnetic matrices, identifying at least one of the particles in the first electromagnetic matrix and storing the coordinates of said particle, and determining a second electromagnetic matrix at a distance of focus on a particle identified from the components of the series of electromagnetic matrices having the stored coordinates.

An illumination unit emits an illumination light to a specimen. An image sensor includes multiple pixels arranged in a two-dimensional manner. The image sensor captures an image of the intensity distribution of an interference pattern formed due to the illumination light that has interacted with the specimen, and outputs image data. A defect information acquisition unit acquires defect position information that indicates the positions of defective pixels of the image sensor. A processing unit reconstructs a subject image that represents the specimen based on the image data and the defect position information.

An illumination unit emits illumination light to a specimen. An image sensor includes multiple pixels arranged in a two-dimensional manner on a photoelectric surface. The image sensor captures an image of a magnitude distribution of an interference pattern formed due to the illumination light that has interacted with the specimen. A limiter limits at least one from among the spatial frequency of the interference pattern formed on the photoelectric surface and the incident angle of the light input to the photoelectric surface.

Systems and methods for sub-aperture correlation based wavefront measurement in a thick sample and correction as a post processing technique for interferometric imaging to achieve near diffraction limited resolution are described. Theory, simulation and experimental results are presented for the case of full field interference microscopy. The inventive technique can be applied to any coherent interferometric imaging technique and does not require knowledge of any system parameters. In one embodiment of the present application, a fast and simple way to correct for defocus aberration is described. A variety of applications for the method are presented.

A method for digital holographic microtomography comprises (a) providing at least one wavefront controlling device for driving a sample to be rotated and/or an incident beam scanning the sample, (b) utilizing a digital holographic access unit for recording the transmitted or reflected wavefronts of the sample, (c) utilizing a digital holography reconstructing method for reconstructing the transmitted or reflected wavefronts of the sample, and (d) utilizing a tomographic reconstruction approach for reconstructing three dimensional image information of the sample.

An example system includes a master oscillator that provides a master oscillator beam, a first fiber beam splitter that splits the master oscillator beam into a first branch and a second branch, a second fiber beam splitter that splits the first branch into an imaging branch and an amplified characteristic branch, and a compensation branch mixer that mixes the second branch and the amplified characteristic branch into a compensation branch. The example system includes transmission optics that direct the imaging branch to a target location, an imaging mixer that mixes the compensation branch and a reflected image from the target location into an imaging signal, and an acquisition device that receives the imaging signal as a final image. An example system optionally includes a mode matching lens that applies a selected wavefront characteristic to the compensation branch.