Abstract

In connection with microscopy, digital holography provides contact-less, marker-free, quantitative phase-contrast imaging. Particularly, the feature of (subsequent) numerical auto focus adjustment enables applications in the field of life cell analysis. Here, prospects for long term time-lapse investigations in toxicology and cancer research as well as for monitoring of fast dynamic processes like shape variations are opened up. The evaluation of the obtained quantitative phase contrast provides data for thickness monitoring as well as for the observation of cell swelling kinetics due to osmotic stimulation. Results from investigations on living cells demonstrate digital holographic microscopy application fields for quantitative life cell analytics.

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