A blind reconstruction approach for multifocal structured illumination microscopy

Multifocal Structured Illumination Microscopy (MSIM) was initially introduced as a parallel version of image scanning microscopy, aiming to enhance the temporal resolution of the imaging process. Beyond its capacity in super-resolution imaging, MSIM exhibits optical sectioning capabilities akin to confocal microscopy, making it well-suited for imaging thick tissue samples. Traditional MSIM reconstruction algorithms rely on digital pinholes to eliminate out-of-focus signals, demanding precise illumination information. However, controlling and accurately reconstructing illumination patterns can be challenging or impractical in certain experimental settings. To address this, our paper proposes a blind reconstruction method for MSIM that circumvents the need for exact illumination information. Leveraging the stability of the standard deviation for each pixel in illumination, this method achieves optical sectioning effectively and provides approximately 1.76 times better resolution than widefield imaging. The efficacy of our proposed blind reconstruction method for both super-resolution imaging and optical sectioning is validated through both simulations and experimental results.