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. 1979 Jun;26(3):507–526. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(79)85268-6

Interference reflection microscopy. A quantitative theory for image interpretation and its application to cell-substratum separation measurement.

D Gingell, I Todd
PMCID: PMC1328567  PMID: 262429

Abstract

We propose a quantitative theory of microscope interferometry where the specimen is illuminated by a cone of monochromatic light of solid angle 0 - 100 degree, corresponding to an illuminating numerical aperture of 0 to approximately 1.2. Computed results compare favorably with photometric measurements of fringe irradiance for a water wedge 0 - 2,000-nm thick. The interpretation of cell-substratum interference images is discussed in relation to the theory. We conclude that in assessing cell-glass separation, the cytoplasmic thickness does in general contribute significantly to the final image, but this contribution is minimized at high illuminating apertures. In these circumstances, however, normal incidence theory is inapplicable and the theory for finite illuminating aperture is essential. Neglect of this fact can lead to errors of up to 100% in estimated cell-glass separation.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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