Our research group devised the holographic principle of the Q-Phase Multimodal microscope and participated in the development and testing. Currently, we use it in cell biology and nanomaterials research. We exploit the extraordinary properties of incoherent quantitative phase imaging particularly in cancer research by looking for a new kind of biomarkers relevant to personalized tumor treatment and also useful in a search for migrastatics. A very important application area is the investigation of optical properties of meta-surfaces. Moreover, with Q-Phase microscope we can test new imaging modes that incoherent holography offers such as imaging objects in optically scattering environments, imaging 3D objects, and new methods of super-resolution.

The quantitative phase imaging is the feature I appreciate the most. It offers high quality images and quantitative data, which cannot be easily obtained elsewhere. I also appreciate the possibility to combine phase imaging with the fluorescence microscopy. I like effective technical support, too.

The biggest advantages of using Q-PHASE include relatively robust data recruitment, automation of the acquisition process, combination of fluorescence and QPI, and high resolution.

Excellent, user-friendly software. It was great to attend the workshop in Brno, and I need to find time to delve into the information behind the science, so I can make more intelligent use of the Q-Phase. Colleagues from physics are already finding ways to test some of their non-cellular samples and find that Q-Phase is measuring refractive index with more accuracy and faster than they could have measured with their personally developed techniques. I am trying to have an internal standard of known refractive index to use with my samples, so that I can have absolute measures of refractive index as opposed to relative, and will not have to rely on thickness assumptions. It would be nice to have more fluorescent cubes/lines as biologists seem eager to have many different intracellular fluorophores.

Using the method of dynamic phase differences provided by Q-Phase, our laboratory in collaboration with Prof. Chmelík’s laboratory described the dynamics of differences in cell mass distribution in mesenchymal and amoeboid tumor cells migrating in a 3D environment. We have also shown, using this method, that some features are common to both modes of invasion. We found that blebbing is enhanced in amoeboid fibrosarcoma cells as they pass through small pores, and that blebbing is occasionally present in mesenchymal-invading cells around nuclei that are compressed by surrounding collagen fibers. We further demonstrated that both the leading processes and leading panicles of invading fibrosarcoma cells are defined by higher cell mass density. In addition, we directly documented the fusion of collagen fibers by the protrusions of mesenchymal fibrosarcoma cells. Thus, the type of non-invasive microscopy presented here offers new insights into cellular events during 3D invasion and contributes significantly to our understanding of this crucial step in the metastatic process.