Digital holographic imaging of microorganisms

Imaging aquatic microorganisms in 3D space is of interest to biologists and ocean scientists seeking to understand the behavior of these organisms in their natural environments. In this research, digital holographic imaging (DHI), with a 4f system providing transverse magnification of 9.1, is used to study such microorganisms. To test the imaging technique, DHI was used to locate and track 10 micrometer Dunaliella freely swimming in a 30 milliliter tank of artificial ocean water. Multiple holograms were recorded onto one frame with laser pulsing to identify short algae trajectories. An automatic algae locating program was designed, but the signal to noise ratio was too low, and therefore the program could only locate algae reliably with manual confirmation. With refinement to the experimental setup, the signal to noise ratio could be increased, and this imaging technique could be used to analyze many systems of aquatic microorganisms interacting in a 3D space.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Wolf, Michael Trevor

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Roman Stocker.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/36684

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/36684