Alexey A. Bakharev

By Alexander P. Vladimirov and Alexey A. Bakharev

Relation between the phase dynamics of the waves sounding thin biological object and the dynamics of the speckles in the object image plane was theoretically detected using a model dealing with interference of multiple waves with random phases. Formulas determining the dependence of time‐average intensity I ˜and temporal autocorrelation function η=η(t) of this intensity at a point of the image plane with mean value 〈x〉, mean square deviation σu, and correlation time τ0 of the difference between the optical paths ∆u of the wave pairs in the neighborhood of a conjugate point of the object plane were obtained. A relation between a normalized temporal spectral function of stationary process ∆u(t) and a temporal spectral radiation intensity fluctuation function was substantiated. An optical device relevant to the model used in the theory was developed. Good quantitative coincidence between the theory and the experiment was shown by means of dosed random variation of path difference ∆u. The calibration procedure for the device determining σu was developed; errors and the sensitivity limit of the technique were assessed. Application of value σu as a cell activity parameter on biological objects, namely, a monolayer of live cells on a transparent substrate in a thin cuvette with the nutrient solution was substantiated. It was demonstrated that the technique allows determination of herpes virus in the cells as early as 10 min from the experiment start. A necessity to continue upgrading of the technique was pointed out as well as its prospects for studying the cell reaction to toxic substances, bacteria, and viruses considered.

Part of the book: Optical Interferometry