Backside illuminated

qOBM uses a convectional bright field microscope geometry with low-cost LED light sources in epi-mode, and leverages multiple-scattering within a thick sample to generate a virtual light source from within. By modeling the scattering process, robust estimates of the transfer function of the system can be obtained which ultimately leads to 3D quantitative phase imaging in real-time using a simple, low-cost optical microscope. Figure 1 shows the quantitative capabilities of qOBM, and Fig. 2 shows examples images of freshly excised mouse brain. A comparison to image acquired with reflectance confocal microcopy (RCM) of the same sample with equal acquisition times or X16 more averaging is also shown in Fig. 2. Indeed, the level of cellular and subcellular detail provided by this novel technology is unprecedented for label-free, tomographic tissue imaging (without resorting to expensive and complex nonlinear methods). Plus, qOBM has access to the same rich biophysical information as QPI, but in arbitrarily thick samples which is very significant.

Exmor

qOMB is now being explored as a tool to monitor cell manufacturing processes [3,4], image 3D organoids [1], guide neurosurgery using a handheld qOBM probe, and much more [5,6].

Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) has emerged as an important tool in biomedicine that yields unprecedented insight into internal cellular structures, and which allows researchers to study cell nanoarchitecture, mass transport and cell membrane fluctuations for various biomedical applications. However, QPI has been limited to thin samples, typically the thickness of a single cell. To overcome this significant barrier, we developed quantitative oblique back-illumination microscopy (qOBM) [1,2], which provides the same rich level of quantitative insight provided by QPI but tomographically in thick scattering samples, including human tissue, which has significant implications for many biomedical and clinical applications.