Quantitative index imaging of coculture cells by scanning focused refractive index microscopy

Abstract. We report the quantitative refractive index (RI) imaging of cocultured cells in their living environment by scanning focused refractive index microscopy (SFRIM). Mouse microglial cells and synovial cells are cocultured on the top surface of a trapezoid prism. The RI imaging of living cells is obtained in a reflection-type method. The RI information is deduced with the simple derivative total internal reflection method, where a complex retrieval algorithm or reconstruction process is unnecessary. The outline of each cell is determined according to the RI value compared with that of the immersion liquid. The cocultured cells can be discriminated in the RI image. The measurement is nondestructive and label-free. The experimental results prove that SFRIM is a promising tool in the field of biological optics.

[1]  Joachim P. Spatz,et al.  Marker-Free Phenotyping of Tumor Cells by Fractal Analysis of Reflection Interference Contrast Microscopy Images , 2013, Nano letters.

[2]  Myung K. Kim,et al.  Digital holography of total internal reflection. , 2008, Optics express.

[3]  J. Rogers,et al.  Spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM) , 2010, IEEE Photonic Society 24th Annual Meeting.

[4]  W. Steen.  Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles , 1999 .

[5]  K. Toutouzas,et al.  Complex refractive index of normal and malignant human colorectal tissue in the visible and near‐infrared , 2017, Journal of biophotonics.

[6]  E. Cuche,et al.  Measurement of the integral refractive index and dynamic cell morphometry of living cells with digital holographic microscopy. , 2005, Optics express.

[7]  C. Fang-Yen,et al.  Tomographic phase microscopy , 2008, Nature Methods.

[8]  P. H. Yap,et al.  Refractive index measurement of single living cells using on-chip Fabry-Pérot cavity , 2006 .

[9]  XiuJun Li,et al.  A PDMS/paper/glass hybrid microfluidic biochip integrated with aptamer-functionalized graphene oxide nano-biosensors for one-step multiplexed pathogen detection. , 2013, Lab on a chip.

[10]  P. H. Yap,et al.  Determining refractive index of single living cell using an integrated microchip , 2007 .

[11]  S. Jacques,et al.  Measurement of single cell refractive index, dry mass, volume, and density using a transillumination microscope. , 2012, Physical review letters.

[12]  E. Cuche,et al.  Cell refractive index tomography by digital holographic microscopy. , 2006, Optics letters.

[13]  Wen-Yuan Zhou,et al.  Scanning focused refractive-index microscopy , 2014, Scientific Reports.

[14]  Chau-Jern Cheng,et al.  Determining the refractive index profile of micro-optical elements using transflective digital holographic microscopy , 2010 .

[15]  Yongkeun Park,et al.  Refractive index maps and membrane dynamics of human red blood cells parasitized by Plasmodium falciparum , 2008, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[16]  K. Nugent,et al.  Refractive index measurement in viable cells using quantitative phase‐amplitude microscopy and confocal microscopy , 2005, Cytometry. Part A : the journal of the International Society for Analytical Cytology.

[17]  A. Arneodo,et al.  Time-lapse scanning surface plasmon microscopy of living adherent cells with a radially polarized beam. , 2016, Applied optics.