Snapshot optical tomography system and method of acquiring an image with the system

A method of creating a three-dimensional image of a sample using snapshot optical tomography, the method comprising:

• generating a plurality of beams at the sample plane on the sample at different angles of illumination;
• acquiring a plurality of field images at a camera plane using off-axis digital holography, the camera plane being offset from an image plane conjugate to the sample plane, each field image of the plurality of field images being associated with a respective beam of the plurality of beams;
• extracting amplitude data and phase data for the acquired plurality of field images;
• backpropagating the plurality of field images using the amplitude data and the phase data;
• acquiring a background image;
• extracting amplitude data and phase data for the background image;
• and
• reconstructing a three-dimensional image of the sample with the backpropagated plurality of field images and the background image.

A snapshot optical tomography system for capturing an image of a sample, the system comprising:

• a light source to provide a beam;
• a first microlens array coupled to the light source, having a first axis, and providing a first plurality of beams with a first plurality of distinct paths;
• a second microlens array coupled to the light source, having a second axis, and providing a second plurality of beams with a second plurality of distinct paths, the second axis being substantially orthogonal to the first axis;
• a camera to acquire a first image associate with the first plurality of beams, and to acquire a second image associated with the second plurality of beams, the camera acquiring the first image and the second image at a camera plane, the camera plane being different from an image plane;
• and
• a processor and memory to reconstruct a reconstructed image of the sample using the first image and the second image by backpropagating the first image and backpropagating the second image to the image plane.