Machine-learning approach to holographic particle characterization

Holograms of colloidal dispersions encode comprehensive information about individual particles' three-dimensional positions, sizes and optical properties. Extracting that information typically is computationally intensive, and thus slow. Here, we demonstrate that machine-learning techniques based on support vector machines (SVMs) can analyze holographic video microscopy data in real time on low-power computers. The resulting stream of precise particle-resolved tracking and characterization data provides unparalleled insights into the composition and dynamics of colloidal dispersions and enables applications ranging from basic research to process control and quality assurance.