A self-reference approach to synthetic aperture digital holographic microscopy

Synthetic aperture digital holographic microscopy (SA-DHM) enhances resolution and mitigates noise artifacts beyond the capabilities of conventional digital holographic microscopy. Traditional implementations rely on acquiring multiple holograms under different illumination angles, followed by a complex reconstruction process in the spatial frequency domain. In this work, we review a recently proposed single-exposure SA-DHM system capable of real-time numerical reconstruction. The design employs a modular framework comprising an illumination module and a self-referencing detection unit, both of which can be easily integrated into standard life-science microscopes with minimal cost and alignment effort. A theoretical image formation model allows real-time incorporation of non-blind deconvolution, enabling recovery of fine structural details. Experimental validation across diverse biological samples demonstrates the method’s practical effectiveness, offering substantial improvements in resolution and noise suppression over conventional coherent DHM.