The Lightfield Microscope Eyepiece

Abstract

Lightfield microscopy has raised growing interest in the last few years. Its ability to get three-dimensional information about the sample in a single shot makes it suitable for many applications in which time resolution is fundamental. In this paper we present a novel device, which is capable of converting any conventional microscope into a lightfield microscope. Based on the Fourier integral microscope concept, we designed the lightfield microscope eyepiece. This is coupled to the eyepiece port, to let the user exploit all the host microscope’s components (objective turret, illumination systems, translation stage, etc.) and get a 3D reconstruction of the sample. After the optical design, a proof-of-concept device was built with off-the-shelf optomechanical components. Here, its optical performances are demonstrated, which show good matching with the theoretical ones. Then, the pictures of different samples taken with the lightfield eyepiece are shown, along with the corresponding reconstructions. We demonstrated the functioning of the lightfield eyepiece and lay the foundation for the development of a commercial device that works with any microscope.

Practical guide for setting up a Fourier light-field microscope

“…Another advantage of FLMic is that it can be implemented easily by inserting an accessory at the camera port of a conventional microscope, and therefore can make use of the usual facilities of such microscope as for example the dark-field illumination mode [20,21].…”

Handheld and Cost-Effective Fourier Lightfield Microscope

“…The FLMic can be built from scratch by aligning and adjusting many different elements, such as the illumination system, the sample holder, an infinity-corrected microscope objective (MO), the tube lens, relay lenses, the microlens array (MLA), and a digital camera. An attractive alternative is to build a Fourier lightfield accessory designed to be inserted at the camera port of a microscope [22]. In any case, the resulting FLMic can be somehow bulky, and with a final cost equal to several thousand dollars.…”

“…In any case, the resulting FLMic can be somehow bulky, and with a final cost equal to several thousand dollars. Perhaps this fact has concealed the advantages of FLMic, and delayed the spread of the Fourier lightfield concept, which is potentially suited to application to image infield sample volumes; for instance, living phytoplankton [22], zebrafish embryos [23], neuronal activity [24], and other potential applications such as microplastic screening, food processing chains, colloidal stability in material industries, amongst others.…”