Integral imaging microscopy with enhanced depth-of-field using a spatial multiplexing

Abstract

A depth-of-field enhancement method for integral imaging microscopy system using a spatial multiplexing structure consisting of a beamsplitter with dual video channels and micro lens arrays is proposed. A computational integral imaging reconstruction algorithm generates two sets of depth-sliced images for the acquired depth information of the captured elemental image arrays and the well-focused depth-slices of both image sets are combined where each is focused on a different depth plane of the specimen. A prototype is implemented, and the experimental results demonstrate that the depth-of-field of the reconstructed images in the proposed integral imaging microscopy is significantly increased compared with conventional integral imaging microscopy systems.