Digital holographic phase-contrast microscopy for 3D imaging of gastric cancer cells

Digital holographic phase-contrast microscopy, a new imaging microscopy, is the combination of digital holography with microscopy. It possesses some unique advantages, e.g. non-destructive, non-invasive and quantitative analysis, and it can be used to image for phase-type objects. In this paper, gastric cancer cells at different stages of cell division were studied employing transmission experimental setup, and the intensity image and phase image of the cells were obtained. The cell sizes were calculated and the cell structures were analyzed according to the intensity and phase images. The result shows that digital holographic phase-contrast microscopy can be used to 3D imaging of microscopic phase object under marker-free condition and real-time quantitative measurement. The technique has a strong potential in biomedical applications.