Differential interference contrast tomography.

We present a new approach to optical tomography of phase objects that is referred to as differential interference contrast tomography (DICT). The main feature of DICT is that the result of tomographic reconstruction is a 3D DIC image. This image is described by partial derivative of 3D refractive index distribution in one direction. The DICT setup consists of a lateral shearing phase-shifting interference microscope with low-coherent LED illumination. To create projections of the sample at various illumination angles, an angular scanning beam was used. 3D DIC tomograms of a white blood cell are presented. The comparison between the reconstructed DIC tomogram slices and the conventional DIC images of the same sample at the same depths are also represented.