Work

Lensless Quantitative Phase Imaging with Bayer-Filtered Color Sensors Under Sequential RGB-LED Illumination

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Lensless on-chip microscopy enables high-throughput, wide-FOV imaging; however, the Bayer color filter array (CFA) in standard color sensors spatially multiplexes spectral channels, introducing sub-sampling and spectral crosstalk that degrade phase retrieval. We propose a Wirtinger Poly-Gradient Solver (WPGS) for quantitative phase reconstruction with Bayer-filtered color sensors under sequential Red-Green-Blue Light-Emitting Diode (RGB-LED) illumination. The method combines Transport of Intensity Equation (TIE)-based initialization with polychromatic Wirtinger optimization to suppress CFA-induced artifacts and enable pixel super-resolution (PSR). Experiments resolve a 2.76 μm linewidth using a 1.85 μm pixel-pitch sensor, exceeding the nominal Nyquist limit imposed by pixel sampling. We further demonstrate label-free imaging of HeLa cells and unstained tissue sections, supporting high-throughput digital pathology and offering potential for longitudinal biological observation.

Source: Journal of Imaging

DOI: 10.3390/jimaging12030101

Authors: Jiajia Wu, Yining Li, Yuheng Luo, Leiting Pan, Pengming Song, Qiang Xu

Institutions: Nankai University, Guangzhou Laboratory, Shanxi University

Language: English

Topic: Digital Holography and Microscopy

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,172

Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Nankai University