Image flow-cytometry meets virtual reality: a new scenario for label-free quantitative phase contrast microscopy and single cell analysis

Recently, tomographic flow-cytometry in label-free modality has been demonstrated. The tomographic apparatus operates in Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) mode and gives the possibility to retrieve the 3D refractive index distribution of single cells flowing along a microfluidic channel. One of the challenging topic correlated to QPI is the need to extract subcellular compartments as QPI lacks the typical specificity guaranteed by standard fluorescence microscopy (FM). Here we show the possibility of retrieving the specific refractive index distribution of multiple sub-cellular organelles from the 3D tomograms of flowing cells. Furthermore, we show a novel model of representation and fruition of 3D tomograms, displayed in an immersive virtual reality (VR) environment. Thus, new scenarios can be opened not only for fruition but also for analyzing the quantitative measurements of the whole 3D structure of any and each cell.