Holographic tomography: techniques and biomedical applications [Invited]

Holographic tomography (HT) is an advanced label-free optical microscopic imaging method used for biological studies. HT uses digital holographic microscopy to record the complex amplitudes of a biological sample as digital holograms and then numerically reconstruct the sample's refractive index (RI) distribution in three dimensions. The RI values are a key parameter for label-free bio-examination, which correlate with metabolic activities and spatiotemporal distribution of biophysical parameters of cells and their internal organelles, tissues, and small-scale biological objects. This article provides insight on this rapidly growing HT field of research and its applications in biology. We present a review summary of the HT principle and highlight recent technical advancement in HT and its applications.