Imaging through volumetric scattering media by decoding angular light paths

Abstract: High-resolution optical microscopy has transformed biological imaging, yet its resolution and contrast deteriorate with depth due to multiple light scattering. Conventional correction strategies typically approximate the medium as one or a few discrete layers. While effective in the presence of dominant scattering layers, these approaches break down in thick, volumetric tissues, where accurate modeling would require an impractically large number of layers. To address this challenge, we introduce an inverse-scattering framework that represents the entire volume as a superposition of angular deflectors, each corresponding to scattering at a specific angle. This angular formulation is particularly well suited to biological tissues, where narrow angular spread due to the dominant forward scattering allow most multiple scattering to be captured with relatively few components. Within this framework, we solve the inverse problem by progressively incorporating contributions from small to large deflection angles. Applied to simulations and in vivo reflection-mode imaging through intact mouse skull, our method reconstructs up to 121 angular components, converting ~80% of multiply scattered light into signal. This enables non-invasive visualization of osteocytes in the skull that remain inaccessible to existing layer-based methods. These results establish the scattering-angle basis as a deterministic framework for imaging through complex media, paving the way for high-resolution microscopy deep inside living tissues.