A super-resolution scanning algorithm for lensless microfluidic imaging using the dual-line array image sensor

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 6; p. e0235111
• Main Authors: Tian, Dian, Yu, Ningmei, Li, Zhengpeng, Li, Shuaijun, Li, Na
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Francisco Public Library of Science 25.06.2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Acceleration; Algorithms; Automation; Cell size; Engineering; Engineering and Technology; Flow velocity; Group velocity; Image acquisition; Image detection; Image processing; Image reconstruction; Image resolution; Medical research; Microfluidics; Microscopy; Miniaturization; Optical detectors; Physical Sciences; Pixels; Research and Analysis Methods; Scanning; Sensor arrays; Sensors; China
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235111

The lensless optical fluid microscopy is of great significance to the miniaturization, portability and low cost development of cell detection instruments. However, the resolution of the cell image collected directly is low, because the physical pixel size of the image sensor is the same order of magnitude as the cell size. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a super-resolution scanning algorithm using a dual-line array sensor and a microfluidic chip. For dual-line array sensor images, the multi-group velocity and acceleration of cells flowing through the line array sensor are calculated. Then the reconstruction model of the super-resolution image is constructed with variable acceleration. By changing the angle between the line array image sensor and the direction of cell flow, the super-resolution image scanning and reconstruction are achieved in both horizontal and vertical directions. In addition, it is necessary to study the row by row extraction algorithm for cell foreground image. In this paper, the dual-line array sensor is implemented by adjusting the acquisition window of the image sensor with a pixel size of 2.2[mu]m. When the tilt angle is 21 degrees, the equivalent pixel size is 0.79[mu]m, improved 2.8 times, and after de-diffraction its average size error was 3.249%. As the angle decreases, the image resolution is higher, but the amount of information is less. This super-resolution scanning algorithm can be integrated on the chip and used with a microfluidic chip to realize on-chip instrument.