Abstract

We describe a novel hybrid optoelectronic system to study and track the in-plane motion and rotation of a microbe in real time. Unlike in the conventional microscope method, the observation volume can be very large, up to several millimeters in diameter and 2 mm in depth. The motion patterns of microbes in a more natural environment can be observed. The entire system consists of a laser illuminator, a dark-field imaging element, a video camera, and a microcomputer with an image capture interface. The novel feature of the system is the laser illuminator that effectively and directly acts on the diffracted laser light and forms enlarged quasi-fourier-transformed (QFT) images of the microbes. These QFT images can then be viewed on a monitor through a video camera from which the data can also be captured and processed by the computer. Techniques and mathematical justifications for data analyses are discussed, and unique features of the system are also summarized. Finally, the experimental results and some computer simulations are presented.

© 1992 Optical Society of America