Image formation model of a 3D translucent object observed in light microscopy

We propose a complete model for the image formation of a 3D microscopic translucent object. This model is essentially composed of 3 steps. The first step is the modeling of an object. We define a 3D distribution of complex indexes of refraction. The second step is based on ray tracing and simulates the light propagation inside the specimen. We compute an light intensity volume. Finally, we simulate a light microscope as a blurring model. It forms the 2D final image. This model of blur approximates the real optical transfer function with 5 physical parameters describing the optical system. We show results of our complete model. The computed images are compared to real images of a microscopic glass sphere.