Combined Multi-Plane Tomographic Phase Retrieval and Stochastic Optical Fluctuation Imaging for 4D Cell Microscopy

Abstract: Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy provides unprecedented insight into cellular and subcellular structures. However, going "beyond the diffraction barrier" comes at a price since most far-field super-resolution imaging techniques trade temporal for spatial super-resolution. We propose the combination of a novel label-free white light quantitative phase tomography with fluorescence imaging to provide high-speed imaging and spatial super-resolution. The non-iterative phase reconstruction relies on the acquisition of single images at each z-location and thus enables straightforward 3D phase imaging using a classical microscope. We realized multi-plane imaging using a customized prism for the simultaneous acquisition of 8 planes. This allowed us to not only image live cells in 3D at up to 200 Hz, but also to integrate fluorescence super-resolution optical fluctuation imaging within the same optical instrument. This 4D microscope platform unifies the sensitivity and high temporal resolution of phase tomography with the specificity and high spatial resolution of fluorescence imaging.