SYNTOH · Synthetic Optical Holography

Synthetic Optical Holography

Microscopy is an indispensable tool in research, medicine and industry that enables the inspection of objects that are otherwise too small to see with the naked eye. But detailed view on biological objects, for example, is tremendously important: Microscopy allows to identify structure within cells and tissues, which made it a vital instrument for modern molecular and cell biology. The 2014 Nobel price award to Betzig, Moerner and Hell for super-resolved fluorescence microscopy is a clear signal that continuous development in the field of microscopy is recognized and essential for research that relies on microscopy. This project, SYNTOH, developed and facilitated phase imaging, an emerging imaging modality in microscopy with applications in biology, medicine and manufacturing. In a typical microscopy application, contrast is generated by light absorption in the sample, which however requires staining to reveal structure in biological specimen. But light also experiences subtle shifts in the light wave’s phase as it passes the specimen. This effect yields rich information on the sample, which, however, is typically lost in recording process. The phase information can be retrieved by phase imaging. However, current methods are slow or expensive. In the framework of SYNTOH, we developed synthetic optical holography as a core technology. It provides a fast, technological simple and cost effective way to perform phase imaging in confocal microscopy. We verified our technology by imaging relevant biological specimen, and additionally we developed and demonstrated a concept of an add-on module for existing microscope setups. Furthermore, we have investigated a particular application of phase imaging for cancer diagnosis. An estimated 3.7 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed in Europe each year. Higher precision in prediction of clinical outcomes are needed for more effective decision making. This project has investigated how phase imaging can provide a new view in microscopy-based investigation of cancer. Synthetic optical holography was also investigated for nano-imaging applications. Near-field microscopy is an emerging technology for nanoscale-resolved infrared imaging of surfaces, and has been tested in a variety of applications with promising results: conductivity mapping in semiconductors, plasmon mapping in graphene and identification of protein complexes in biomedical imaging. However, current technology is limited in speed. The holographic approach of Synthetic Optical Holography (SOH) can lead to rapid imaging and to multispectral imaging. The conclusion of this project is that synthetic optical holography was demonstrated for confocal microscopy and key applications such as label-free cell and tissue imaging were demonstrated. This project now makes this technology available for users of confocal microscopy. It is cost effective and easy to operate, and yields clearer phase imaging owing to suppression of halo and speckle artifacts. Further, we developed a microscope platform that combines phase and infrared contrast for augmented and automated histopathology.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз