Super-resolution mobile microscopy

Abstract: Mobile microscopy, with its portability and multimodal capabilities, holds immense significance across healthcare, environmental monitoring, and research. It equips healthcare providers to deliver rapid diagnostics in remote areas, detecting conditions like sickle cell disease, cervical cancer, and pathogens. In environmental monitoring, it aids in on-site analysis of water quality, air pollutants, and pathogens, bolstering environmental safety. Researchers benefit from its field-ready flexibility, contributing to advancements across disciplines. Moreover, it's becoming a key tool in education. By bridging geographical and resource gaps, mobile microscopy makes critical information and analysis tools accessible where needed most, offering invaluable insights. However, mobile microscopy grapples with resolution limitations due to its compact optics, hindering its applicability in high-resolution imaging. To address this, we propose a universal imaging technique based on point spread function (PSF) modulation. By introducing a modulator that produces higher spatial frequencies in the PSF, super-resolution imaging becomes achievable, impacting mobile microscopy across various platforms, including smartphones, and extending to holography and traditional laboratory microscopes. This project marks a transformative step toward accessible high-resolution imaging beyond the laboratory.