Real-time stain-free classification of cancer cells and blood cells using interferometric phase microscopy and machine learning

Abstract: We present a method for a real time visualization and automatic processing for detection and classification of untouched cancer cells in blood during stain free imaging flow cytometry using digital holographic microscopy and machine learning in throughput of 15 cells per second. As a preliminary model for circulating tumor cells in blood, we automatically classified primary and metastatic colon cancer cells, where the two types of cancer cells were isolated from the same individual, as well as four types of blood cells. We used low-coherence off-axis interferometric phase microscopy and a microfluidic channel to quantitatively image cells during flow. The acquired images were processed and classified based on their morphology and quantitative phase features during the cell flow. We achieved high accuracy of 92.56 percent for distinguishing between the cells, paving the way for future automatic label-free cancer cell classification in blood samples.