Light-field tomographic fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy.

Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) is a powerful imaging technique that enables the visualization of biological samples at the molecular level by measuring the fluorescence decay rate of fluorescent probes. This provides critical information about molecular interactions, environmental changes, and localization within biological systems. However, creating high-resolution lifetime maps using conventional FLIM systems can be challenging, as it often requires extensive scanning that can significantly lengthen acquisition times. This issue is further compounded in three-dimensional (3D) imaging because it demands additional scanning along the depth axis. To tackle this challenge, we developed a novel computational imaging technique called light field tomographic FLIM (LIFT-FLIM). Our approach allows for the acquisition of volumetric fluorescence lifetime images in a highly data-efficient manner, significantly reducing the number of scanning steps required compared to conventional point-scanning or line-scanning FLIM imagers. Moreover, LIFT-FLIM enables the measurement of high-dimensional data using low-dimensional detectors, which are typically low-cost and feature a higher temporal bandwidth. We demonstrated LIFT-FLIM using a linear single-photon avalanche diode array on various biological systems, showcasing unparalleled single-photon detection sensitivity. Additionally, we expanded the functionality of our method to spectral FLIM and demonstrated its application in high-content multiplexed imaging of lung organoids. LIFT-FLIM has the potential to open up new avenues in both basic and translational biomedical research.

Compact light field photography towards versatile three-dimensional vision.

Inspired by natural living systems, modern cameras can attain three-dimensional vision via multi-view geometry like compound eyes in flies, or time-of-flight sensing like echolocation in bats. However, high-speed, accurate three-dimensional sensing capable of scaling over an extensive distance range and coping well with severe occlusions remains challenging. Here, we report compact light field photography for acquiring large-scale light fields with simple optics and a small number of sensors in arbitrary formats ranging from two-dimensional area to single-point detectors, culminating in a dense multi-view measurement with orders of magnitude lower dataload. We demonstrated compact light field photography for efficient multi-view acquisition of time-of-flight signals to enable snapshot three-dimensional imaging with an extended depth range and through severe scene occlusions. Moreover, we show how compact light field photography can exploit curved and disconnected surfaces for real-time non-line-of-sight 3D vision. Compact light field photography will broadly benefit high-speed 3D imaging and open up new avenues in various disciplines.

Laser-induced dynamic alignment and nonlinear-like optical transmission in liquid suspensions of 2D atomically thin nanomaterials.

Nonlinear optical property of atomically thin materials suspended in liquid has attracted a lot of attention recently due to the rapid development of liquid exfoliation methods. Here we report laser-induced dynamic orientational alignment and nonlinear-like optical response of the suspensions as a result of their intrinsic anisotropic properties and thermal convection of solvents. Graphene and graphene oxide suspensions are used as examples, and the transition to ordered states from initial optically isotropic suspensions is revealed by birefringence imaging. Computational fluid dynamics is performed to simulate the velocity evolution of convection flow and understand alignment-induced birefringence patterns. The optical transmission of these suspensions exhibits nonlinear-like saturable or reverse saturable absorptions in Z-scan measurements with both nanosecond and continuous-wave lasers. Our findings not only demonstrate a non-contact controlling of macroscopic orientation and collective optical properties of nanomaterial suspensions by laser but also pave the way for further explorations of optical properties and novel device applications of low-dimensional nanomaterials.

High-speed compressed-sensing fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy of live cells.

We present high-resolution, high-speed fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) of live cells based on a compressed sensing scheme. By leveraging the compressibility of biological scenes in a specific domain, we simultaneously record the time-lapse fluorescence decay upon pulsed laser excitation within a large field of view. The resultant system, referred to as compressed FLIM, can acquire a widefield fluorescence lifetime image within a single camera exposure, eliminating the motion artifact and minimizing the photobleaching and phototoxicity. The imaging speed, limited only by the readout speed of the camera, is up to 100 Hz. We demonstrated the utility of compressed FLIM in imaging various transient dynamics at the microscopic scale.

Snapshot hyperspectral light field tomography.

We present snapshot hyperspectral light field tomography (Hyper-LIFT), a highly efficient method in recording a 5D (x, y, spatial coordinates; θ, φ, angular coordinates; λ, wavelength) plenoptic function. Using a Dove prism array and a cylindrical lens array, we simultaneously acquire multi-angled 1D en face projections of the object like those in standard sparse-view computed tomography. We further disperse those projections and measure the spectra in parallel using a 2D image sensor. Within a single snapshot, the resultant system can capture a 5D data cube with 270 × 270 × 4 × 4 × 360 voxels. We demonstrated the performance of Hyper-LIFT in imaging spectral volumetric scenes.

Deep-learning-based image reconstruction for compressed ultrafast photography.

Compressed ultrafast photography (CUP) is a computational optical imaging technique that can capture transient dynamics at an unprecedented speed. Currently, the image reconstruction of CUP relies on iterative algorithms, which are time-consuming and often yield nonoptimal image quality. To solve this problem, we develop a deep-learning-based method for CUP reconstruction that substantially improves the image quality and reconstruction speed. A key innovation toward efficient deep learning reconstruction of a large three-dimensional (3D) event datacube (x,y,t) (x,y, spatial coordinate; t, time) is that we decompose the original datacube into massively parallel two-dimensional (2D) imaging subproblems, which are much simpler to solve by a deep neural network. We validated our approach on simulated and experimental data.

Multiplanar imaging properties of Theon sieves.

Greek ladders with diffraction-limited array foci provide a probability to realize array imaging with equal intensity. Here, taking the ancient Theon sequence as an example, we design the optical structure and have measured the focusing properties by digital holography. Then, we verify the multiplanar imaging with different magnifications by experiment. The experimental results agree well with the theoretical analysis. In addition, bi-Fourier planes filtering technology is proposed to solve the problem of crosstalk between different imaging planes to further improve the imaging resolution. Therefore, we can freely design the focal length of the bifocal lens to achieve high-quality imaging at different resolutions. As a kind of amplitude-only diffractive lens, multifocal imaging provides a possibility of application in array biological imaging, ophthalmology, and an optical zoom system.

Array illumination of a Fresnel-Dammann zone plate.

The traditional Dammann grating is a phase-only modulation, and its theoretical foundation is based on far-field diffraction. Here we extend the traditional Fresnel zone plate (FZP) into a Fresnel-Dammann zone plate (FDZP), which is, in essence, considered as a FZP with Dammann modulation. Different from the Dammann grating, a single FDZP can generate array illumination from the near field to the far field by means of amplitude-only modulation in the absence of phase modulation. We then give some array illuminations operated in a water window to validate the feasibility and validity. This kind of wave-front modulation technology can be applied to array focusing and imaging from the x-ray to the EUV region.