Compact 3D fluorescence microscopes using a single layer of microlens array

We present compact 3D fluorescence microscopes capable of capturing time-series volumetric information in high resolution in biological samples. The microscopes encode 3D objects into the 2D image sensor through a single piece of thin custom-fabricated microlens array and reconstruct the 3D objects through efficient computational algorithms. Compared with conventional imagers, our devices are thin, compact and can image 3D objects in a single shot with real-time reconstruction speed. We demonstrated high quality imaging of a variety of challenging fluorescence samples over a large 3D volume in high resolution, including hydras that display 3D motion, as well as the cortical neural activity with near-cellular resolution in awake mouse.