Snapshot polarimetric imaging in multi-view microscopy

Abstract

Polarimetric imaging allows for the vector nature of optical information across a scene to be obtained, with recent applications ranging from remote sensing to microscopy. In polarimetric microscopy in particular, different polarization states are conventionally achieved under time-division multiplexing strategies and are mainly subject to static phenomena. In the present work, we propose a cost-effective technique for polarization sensing with the possibility of real-time imaging microscopy. By modifying a commercial camera and replacing the conventional lens with an optical system that integrates a microscope objective and a lenslet array with a polarization mask, linear Stokes parameters can be obtained in a snapshot. The proposed scheme is robust against misalignment and suitable for handling video sequences of microscopic samples. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on combining multi-view sensing and polarization imaging for applications to microscopy.

The Design and Application of a Polarization 3D Imager for Land Object Imaging

“…The division-of-amplitude polarization imaging has the advantages of high resolution and real-time imaging, but it requires multiple optical components, and it has a large volume, with a high difficulty of assembly and a low optical energy utilization. The division-of-aperture imaging [14] can simultaneously capture polarization images in different polarization directions with a low weight, but it requires re-registration when targeting different distances and it has a lower spatial resolution. The multi-aperture polarization imaging has the advantages of real-time imaging and high resolution, but it is more expensive, as it costs four times that of a single optical system.…”

Space-division multiplexing for snapshot polarimetric imaging of tissue samples

“…Stokes parameters for example allow to differentiate between healthy tissue and pre-cancerous one. 6 Space-division multiplexing polarimetric imaging 7,8 and in particular Division of Focal Plane techniques (DoFP) 9 have become popular due to the possibility of real-time imaging. Recent advances in nanotechnology have also made sensors integrated with wire microgrid polarizers commercially available to be incorporated in microscopy setups.…”