High-speed 3D imaging based on structured illumination and electrically tunable lens

In this Letter, we present a high-speed volumetric imaging system based on structured illumination and an electrically tunable lens (ETL), where the ETL performs fast axial scanning at hundreds of Hz. In the system, a digital micro-mirror device (DMD) is utilized to rapidly generate structured images at the focal plane in synchronization with the axial scanning unit. The scanning characteristics of the ETL are investigated theoretically and experimentally. Imaging experiments on pollen samples are performed to verify the optical cross-sectioning and fast axial scanning capabilities. The results show that our system can perform fast axial scanning and three-dimensional (3D) imaging when paired with a high-speed camera, presenting an economic solution for advanced biological imaging applications.