Three-dimensional imaging of biological cells using surface plasmon coupled emission

Significance: Biological cell imaging has become one of the most crucial research interests because of its applications in biomedical and microbiology studies. However, three-dimensional (3D) imaging of biological cells is critically challenging and often involves prohibitively expensive and complex equipment. Therefore, a low-cost imaging technique with a simpler optical arrangement is immensely needed. Aim: The proposed approach will provide an accurate cell image at a low cost without needing any microscope or extensive processing of the collected data, often used in conventional imaging techniques. Approach: We propose that patterns of surface plasmon coupled emission (SPCE) features from a fluorescently labeled biological cell can be used to image the cell. An imaging methodology has been developed and theoretically demonstrated to create 3D images of cells from the detected SPCE patterns. The 3D images created from the different SPCE properties at the far-field closely match the actual cell structures. Results: The developed technique has been applied to different regular and irregular cell shapes. In each case, the calculated root-mean-square error (RMSE) of the created images from the cell structures remains within a few percentages. Our work recreates the base of a circular-shaped cell with an RMSE of less than or similar to 1.4%. In addition, the images of irregular-shaped cell bases have an RMSE of less than or similar to 2.8%. Finally, we obtained a 3D image with an RMSE of less than or similar to 6.5% for a random cellular structure. Conclusions: Despite being in its initial stage of development, the proposed technique shows promising results considering its simplicity and the nominal cost it would require. (C) The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Automated summary

Cell imaging is crucial for biomedical and microbiology studies, but three-dimensional imaging is challenging and requires expensive and complex equipment. This study proposes a low-cost imaging technique using surface plasmon coupled emission patterns to accurately image cells.