Single-shot quantitative phase microscopy in common-path configuration

Quantitative phase Microscopy is an advantageous technique to retrieve 3D cell information to estimate cell dry mass and morphology. A popular method is to implement this setup in a common path configuration because it is a system robust to vibrations, and it combines phase contrast imaging with phase shifting techniques to provide high-accuracy measurements. However, this approach requires using a spatial light modulator and at least three images to calculate the phase. In our approach, we leverage the optical anisotropy of liquid crystal materials and a polarized camera to obtain four phase-shifted images simultaneously.