Quantitative phase retrieval for Zernike phase-contrast microscopy

We present a single-image numerical phase retrieval method for Zernike phase-contrast microscopy (ZPM) that addresses halo and shade-off artifacts, as well as the weak phase condition, without requiring hardware modifications. By employing a rigorous physical model of ZPM and a gradient descent algorithm for its inversion, we achieve quantitative ZPM imaging. Our approach is experimentally validated using biological cells and its quantitative nature is confirmed through comparisons with digital holography observations.