Microlens‐assisted microscopy for biology and medicine

Abstract

The addition of dielectric transparent microlens in the optical scheme is an effective and at the same time simple and inexpensive way to increase the resolution of a light microscope. For these purposes, spherical and cylindrical microlenses with a diameter of 1–100 μm are usually used. The microlens focuses the light into a narrow beam called a photonic nanojet. An enlarged virtual image is formed, which is captured by the objective of the light microscope. In addition to microscopy, the microlenses are successfully applied to amplify optical signals, increase the trapping force of optical tweezers and are used in microsurgery. This review considers the design and principle of microlens‐assisted microscopes. Taking into account the advantages of the super‐resolution optical methods for research in life science, the examples of the use of the microlenses in biomedical practice are discussed in detail.

A dataset of digital holograms of normal and thalassemic cells

“…This can be safely achieved by synthetically increasing the numerical aperture (NA) of the detection system, which manipulates the system’s degrees of freedom to synthetically increase the NA, thereby enhancing lateral resolution 7 , 8 . In this amongst, microsphere-assisted microscopy (MAM) stands out for its simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and the advantage of enhancing resolution in all lateral directions simultaneously, making it particularly suitable for real-time imaging of dynamic live specimens 6 , 9 , 10 . In MAM, a transparent micron-scale sphere is positioned over the specimen to enhance lateral resolution compared to the same system operating in the absence of the microsphere 11 .…”

Mesotronics: Some New, Unusual Optical Effects

“…High-order Fano resonances are accompanied by the formation of regions with high local wave vector values [31,32,36,43,44]. This allows one to overcome the diffraction limit, for example, by using a low-loss dielectric sphere [30,[57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67]. Under the conditions of high-order Fano resonance, the characteristic size of hot spots near the sphere poles [57,66] is much smaller than the diffraction limit.…”

“…tric sphere [30,[57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67]. Under the conditions of high-order Fano resonance, the characteristic size of hot spots near the sphere poles [57,66] is much smaller than the diffraction limit.…”

Quantitative phase microscopy by a glass microsphere and plate

“…This makes MAM especially suitable for real-time imaging of dynamic live specimens. [19][20][21][22] In MAM, a transparent micron-scale sphere is placed over the specimen, enhancing the lateral resolution beyond what is achievable without the microsphere. 19,23,24 Due to its broadband and adaptable nature, MAM can be integrated into a variety of microscopy techniques, including confocal, 25 fluorescent, 26,27 two-photon and second-harmonic generation microscopies, 28 profilometry, 29,30 polarimetry, 31 and DHM, 32,33 demonstrating its versatility across diverse imaging applications.…”