Model-based aberration corrected microscopy inside a glass tube

Abstract: Microscope objectives achieve near diffraction-limited performance only when used under the conditions they are designed for. In non-standard geometries, such as thick cover slips or curved surfaces, severe aberrations arise, inevitably impairing high-resolution imaging. Correcting such large aberrations using standard adaptive optics can be challenging: existing solutions are either not suited for strong aberrations, or require extensive feedback measurements, consequently taking a significant portion of the photon budget. We demonstrate that it is possible to pre-compute the corrections needed for high-resolution imaging inside a glass tube based on a priori information only. Our ray-tracing based method achieved over an order of magnitude increase in image contrast without the need for a feedback signal.