Dual field-of-view polarization digital holographic microscope for live-cell imaging

In this study, we present a novel single-shot polarization-resolved digital holographic microscope (PDHM) that integrates both double field-of-view (DFoV) and polarization imaging for real-time, live-cell imaging. This innovative system overcomes the limitations of conventional techniques by simultaneously capturing two distinct regions of the sample, each with polarization information. Using a carefully configured Sagnac setup, the reference beam is split into orthogonally polarized components, each modulated with a distinct spatial carrier frequency. This allows the independent reconstruction of polarization-resolved complex fields. At the same time, a beam splitter placed in the object path spatially folds two separate regions of the sample onto the same sensor area, thereby achieving angular multiplexing without the need for additional optics. This configuration allows both spatially and polarization-resolved information in a single acquisition. The system is experimentally validated on live MCF-7 breast cancer cells, where it successfully reconstructs phase anisotropy and internal cellular features in real time. Its ability to capture wide-field, label-free, and polarization-sensitive information in a compact format makes it a promising tool for biomedical imaging and dynamic cell analysis.