Advances and Overcoming Challenges in Tomographic Diffractive Microscopy

Label-Free Optical microscopy have been a vital tool in biology. However, despite numerous efforts to improve imaging quality, its use is often limited to morphological studies. Quantitative microscopy techniques such as Tomographic diffractive Microscopy (TDM) have shown promise in mapping the 3D distribution of complex optical indices within specimens. However, challenges persist in achieving isotropic resolution, high-speed imaging, and imaging small organisms. Additionally, there is no method for achieving super-resolution in quantitative phase imaging, as can be done with fluorescent molecules in fluorescence microscopy. To address these challenges, researchers are exploring new modalities such as polarization and multispectral approaches. New developments in TDM present promising avenues, and further research is needed to accelerate 3D image reconstruction, address multiple diffraction, and achieve super-resolution in quantitative phase imaging. Keywords: holography, microscopy, optical tomography, superresolution.