FEATURES
WANG Penga, PENG Taoa, WU Haoa, LU Fengyaa, ZHONG Zhenshenga, WANG Yia, ZHOU Jinhuaa,b
Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) as unlabeled microscopic imaging, has become one of the most valuable methods in
biomedical applications. Diffraction phase microscopy (DPM) is a high-sensitivity QPI method based on slightly off-axis commonpath
structure, which has the characteristics of label-free, high stability and low-noise phase images. This paper systematically
introduced the theory of interference imaging, the principles of selection of system parameters, and the phase retrieval algorithm.
Moreover, the developments of DPM method was summarized, including white-light diffraction phase microscopy, multi-wavelength
diffraction phase imaging, structural light illumination diffraction phase imaging, and multi-mode diffraction phase imaging.
Additionally, the application of these developed DPM methods in biology and medicine is introduced. Finally, the limitations of the
DPM methods and the possible development in the future were also discussed.