Abstract

Optical diffraction tomography (ODT) has gradually become a popular label-free imaging technique that offers diffraction-limited resolution by mapping an object's three-dimensional (3D) refractive index (RI) distribution. However, there is a lack of comprehensive quantitative image assessment metrics in ODT for studying how various experimental conditions influence image quality, and subsequently optimizing the experimental conditions. In this Letter, we propose to standardize the image assessment in ODT by proposing a set of metrics, including signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and structural distinguishability (SD). To test the feasibility of the metrics, we performed experiments on angle-scanning ODT by varying the number of illumination angles, RI contrast of samples, sample feature sizes, and sample types (e.g., standard polystyrene beads and 3D printed structures) and evaluated the RI tomograms with SNR, CNR, and SD. We further quantitatively studied how image quality can be improved, and tested the image assessment metrics on subcellular structures of living cells. We envision the proposed image assessment metrics may greatly benefit end-users for assessing the RI tomograms, as well as experimentalists for optimizing ODT instruments.

© 2023 Optica Publishing Group

Parallel synthetic aperture transport-of-intensity diffraction tomography with annular illumination

Habib Ullah, Jiaji Li, Shun Zhou, Zhidong Bai, Ran Ye, Qian Chen, and Chao Zuo
Opt. Lett. 48(7) 1638-1641 (2023)

Time-multiplexed structured illumination using a DMD for optical diffraction tomography

KyeoReh Lee, Kyoohyun Kim, Geon Kim, Seungwoo Shin, and YongKeun Park
Opt. Lett. 42(5) 999-1002 (2017)

Volumetric segmentation of biological cells and subcellular structures for optical diffraction tomography images

Martyna Mazur and Wojciech Krauze
Biomed. Opt. Express 14(10) 5022-5035 (2023)

Large-scale optical diffraction tomography for inspection of optical plastic lenses

Kyoohyun Kim, Jonghee Yoon, and YongKeun Park
Opt. Lett. 41(5) 934-937 (2016)

Photothermal modulation speckle optical coherence tomography of microvascular nondestructive imaging in vivo with high effective resolution

Yudan Hu, Nanshou Wu, Peijun Tang, Tingfeng Li, and Zhilie Tang
Opt. Lett. 48(7) 1878-1881 (2023)