Daybook Analysis - Version 2.0.0 - October 2024
Optical sectioning is the ability of an imaging system to distinguish in-focus signal from out-of-focus background so that it can acquire clear slices of a thick object.
The metric used to quantify this is the optical sectioning strength, also called depth discrimination strength, optical slice thickness, or depth of field (in wide-field microscopy). It should not be confused with the axial resolution, that is the minimal distance between two objects on top of each other that an imaging system can clearly measure. Although these two metrics are related, they are not equivalent.
There are different ways to measure optical sectioning strength. The method used in this analysis relies on the optical sectioning function, i.e. the measured contrast versus the specified distance between lines on the same plane and lines going deeper and deeper in the glass.
The “optical sectioning strength” analysis provides the optical sectioning strength between lines at different depths, for a given contrast value.
The “optical sectioning strength” analysis is associated with the “matrix of crosses” pattern (Pattern family F - see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Example image of the “matrix of crosses” pattern, fulfilling the acquisition recommendations.