System and method for Hilbert phase imaging

A Hilbert phase imaging device comprising:

• a light source that is optically coupled to a first optical path that is separated from a second optical path with a splitter;
• a two dimensional imaging device positioned to receive light from the first optical path and the second optical path, the two dimensional imaging device having a plurality of pixels along x and y axes of the imaging device;
• a modulating element that positions light from the light source such that light on the first optical path is tilted at an angle relative to light on the second optical path, the light from the separated first optical path being combined with light from the separated second optical path with a combiner to be incident on the imaging device at different angles to detect two dimensional image data with the two-dimensional imaging device;
• and
• a processor that receives the image data from the two-dimensional imaging device and performs a Hilbert phase transformation of two dimensional image data to form a quantitative phase image of an object.

A method of imaging an object comprising:

• providing a light source, a first optical path including an object to be imaged, a second optical path and an imaging device;
• positioning the imaging device relative to the first optical path and the second optical path;
• tilting the first optical path relative to the second optical path such that light directed along the first optical path is incident upon the imaging device at a different angle than light directed along that second optical path that is incident upon the imaging device;
• obtaining a two dimensional (2D) image of the object;
• Fourier-transforming and filtering the image to obtain a real sinusoidal signal component of a complex analytic signal;
• obtaining the complex analytic signal associated with the sinusoidal signal by computing a 2D Fourier transform and performing a Hilbert transformation;
• taking an inverse Fourier transform to obtain a complex 2D signal that provides phase information about the object;
• and
• obtaining a quantitative spatial phase image of the object.

A method of imaging an object comprising:

• illuminating an object to be imaged with light from a light source;
• detecting light from the object with a two dimensional imaging device having a plurality of pixels, the two-dimensional imaging device receives light along a first optical path that interferes with light along a second optical path, the first optical path being tilted at an angle relative to the second optical path such that light is received at the two-dimensional imaging device along the first optical path and the second optical path at different angles;
• and
• processing a two dimensional image that is detected by the two-dimensional imaging device with a Hilbert transform to obtain quantitative image data of the object.