High-Resolution Coherent Diffractive Imaging of Adherent Cancer Cells Using a Dynamic Lens-based System

Conventional imaging methods used to diagnose cancer are unable to identify the disease in its earliest stages, prior to the formation of tumors. As such, new modalities are being investigated for non-invasive early cancer detection at the cellular level. Among these, the use of coherent diffractive imaging (CDI) has been proposed as a potential diagnostic tool. However, this approach has often relied on the use of x-rays to achieve the resolution required at the cellular level. We present a CDI technique using a visible (635 nm) laser beam, in which a diffraction pattern is formed vertically, and a translation stage is used to raster a beam profiler through the resulting pattern. The amplitude and phase of the object can then be reconstructed from a single diffraction profile using the Gerchberg-Saxton and the hybrid input-output algorithms. Reconstructed results will be presented for multiple imaging samples, including PANC-1 cancer cells. The resolution offered by this technique could allow for automated cell differentiation without the use of x-rays or other ionizing radiation that can damage biological samples.