Method for identifying blood particles using a photodetector

A method for identifying a particle contained in a sample, the method comprising:

• a) illuminating the sample using a light source, the light source producing an incident light wave propagating towards the sample along a propagation axis;
• b) acquiring, using a matrix-array photodetector, an image of the sample, the sample being placed between the light source and the matrix-array photodetector such that the matrix-array photodetector is exposed to a light wave comprising interference between the incident light wave and a diffraction wave produced by the particle;
• c) determining a position of the particle in a plane parallel to a plane in which the matrix-array photodetector lies;
• d) applying, by a processor, a digital reconstruction algorithm to the acquired image, to estimate at least one characteristic quantity of the light wave to which the matrix-array photodetector is exposed, at a plurality of reconstruction distances from the matrix-array photodetector;
• e) determining, by the processor, a profile, representing a variation of the characteristic quantity as a function of the reconstruction distance, along an axis parallel to the propagation axis and passing through the position;
• and
• f) identifying the particle depending on the profile determined by the processor.