White-light common-path digital holographic microscopy for quantitative phase imaging of living cells

In the study of the morphology and dynamic physiological characteristics of living cells, label-free quantitative phase imaging has been the most ideal detection technique. In this paper, we set up a set of white-light common-path digital holographic microscope based on grating diffraction, which can acquire high-resolution quantitative phase image with a very high spatiotemporal imaging sensitivity. Living red blood cells are measured and the accurate quantitative phase images are achieved. Experimental results demonstrate that this system has a very high accurate imaging performance and has the ability to detect living cells.