HoloLume: point-of-application holographic imaging solution

Abstract

Digital holographic imaging has emerged as a label-free, non-invasive, and powerful tool, offering a transformative method for the real-time investigation of morphology, density, and other physical and mechanical features of biological and non-biological samples. The rapid development of these portable, economical imaging systems for clinical/non-clinical setups, especially in remote areas, is of great interest. These systems are early point-of-care applications in diagnosis, research, education, and training. This article reports a general-purpose, fully automated portable imaging tool, "HoloLume," that offers high-resolution 3D imaging that facilitates the comprehensive understanding and analysis of different biological/non-biological samples. The proposed microscopic system HoloLume realizes the interferogram generation of samples using common-path optics configuration with Fresnel biprism, and its motorized stage precisely scans the whole sample with a step of 3.87 μm for quick identification of the region of interest, which makes sure a time-efficient and robust analysis. The prototype, assembled from off-the-shelf components, costs approximately USD 1700 and weighs around 3 kg. To validate and verify the performance of the HoloLume microscope, we have conducted experiments on both non-biological and biological samples. Thus, its non-invasive nature, high temporal stability, and economical lightweight prototyping make it an ideal choice for hands-on learning and quantitative analysis, reducing the need for time-consuming sample preparation and conventionally expensive microscopic systems. Furthermore, the adaptability of the proposed imaging tool to remote environments ensures wider accessibility and its easy integration with other imaging modalities enables the user to gain insight into advanced research and diagnostics.