Microscopy with Reality Adaptation and Coded Light-field Engineering

Microscopy is a powerful imaging tool that bridges the fascinating microscopic world to macroscopic human vision. The field of microscopy predominantly practices direct imaging concept, where the image of an object is directly recorded by a one-to-one point-to-point mapping between an object and its’ image. This direct imaging concept suffers from numerous disadvantages such as limited imaging resolutions and number of imaging dimensions and rigid interdependencies between imaging characteristics. In the recent years, computational imaging techniques such as coded aperture imaging (CAI) and digital holography (DH) demonstrated microscopy using indirect imaging concepts. In indirect imaging, imaging happens across two domains namely the optical and computational domains. A new computational imaging concept formed at the intersection of CAI and DH called ‘MIcroscopy with Reality Adaptation and Coded Light-field Engineering (MIRACLE)’ is proposed. MIRACLE is capable of twisting the reality in microscopy and open new possibilities. The proposed MIRACLE aims to create a new imaging science using two radical concepts namely mixed computational optical realities and coded light-field engineering. The above concepts create a complex statistical problem connecting the interaction between an ensemble of structured waves generated in optical and computational domains and the imaging characteristics. Consequently, this framework connects multiple dimensions such as space, spectrum, polarization and orbital angular momentum along optical and computational domains and allows to tailor the interdependencies between them. This project will expand microscopy concepts beyond the state-of-the-art with advanced capabilities. Expected outcomes of the project include the development of a world record ten-dimensional microscope with on-demand imaging characteristics. This should provide significant benefits in a wide range of applications such as biomedicine, holography, and spectroscopy.