3.4 Holographic Research Methods in Biology and Medicine
267
3.4 Holographic Research Methods in Biology
and Medicine
Visual information plays a great role in medical diagnosis. But a human eye cannot
penetrate different hard-to-reach cavities of a human organism. That is why it is
extremely important to obtain information hidden from an eye and in the fullest
form.
With the holographic method, a set of tasks can be determined, the solution of
which is difficult or principally not possible using traditional methods. Possibility
to obtain a 3D-image, recording and storage of great amount of information, and
convenience of its processing predetermine usage of these methods in medicine and
biology [203, 204]. The peculiarity of the holographic method is that not an image
is recorded in the light-sensitive high-resolution emulsion layer but the wave field of
the object, or rather phase wave correlations reflected from the object and forming
the interference pattern. If the hologram was formed after photochemical processing
and during reconstruction the light incidents on its diffractive structure, then it is
reflected at such an angle that the beams form a three-dimensional image. These
beams concentrate in space or on the area, which was previously occupied by the
object itself. If we continue to record the object on the same holographic plate, we
can obtain a form of kinematic reconstruction of the object in motion.
One of the most important tasks in medicine is an early diagnostics of diseases.
To form clinical diagnosis information about the exact location of the pathological
process, its degree of manifestation, histological structure of the invaded tissues and
other factors are necessary, which cannot be obtained with an ordinary medical examination and the widespread methods of investigation (radiography, roentgenoscopy,
endoscopy, ophthalmoscopy).
Comparing to the widespread methods, the main advantages of the optical holography methods in medicine are qualitatively new possibility of registration and
reconstruction of three-dimensional images, increase of informativity of the obtained
images, considerable improvement of resolution capacity and possibility of accurate
measurement of the spatial location of the structures under study [205].
In the sphere of medical diagnosis, direct observation plays a great role. That
is why the holographic reconstruction method gives the possibility to realize largescale and integral survey of the object under study. Two main applications are of
great interest for medicine and biology, namely observation of internals and externals
and optical processing of information. The objects of the study can be divided into
three main groups. The first group contains open objects, i.e., external organs, which
are accessible for laser illumination (e.g., face, chest, arteries, extremities, etc.) and
separate organs after postmortem examinations. The second group contains internals,
i.e., cavities accessible for optical light-transporting elements (e.g., the oral cavity,
bronchi, the esophagus, the rectum, the uterine cavity). The third group contains
cavities, which are not accessible for inserting light-transporting elements, which
are an eye and its contents—the cornea, the crystalline lens, the eye-ground, etc. The
fourth group includes moving objects, i.e., objects, which have the aim of holographic
267
3.4 Holographic Research Methods in Biology
and Medicine
Visual information plays a great role in medical diagnosis. But a human eye cannot
penetrate different hard-to-reach cavities of a human organism. That is why it is
extremely important to obtain information hidden from an eye and in the fullest
form.
With the holographic method, a set of tasks can be determined, the solution of
which is difficult or principally not possible using traditional methods. Possibility
to obtain a 3D-image, recording and storage of great amount of information, and
convenience of its processing predetermine usage of these methods in medicine and
biology [203, 204]. The peculiarity of the holographic method is that not an image
is recorded in the light-sensitive high-resolution emulsion layer but the wave field of
the object, or rather phase wave correlations reflected from the object and forming
the interference pattern. If the hologram was formed after photochemical processing
and during reconstruction the light incidents on its diffractive structure, then it is
reflected at such an angle that the beams form a three-dimensional image. These
beams concentrate in space or on the area, which was previously occupied by the
object itself. If we continue to record the object on the same holographic plate, we
can obtain a form of kinematic reconstruction of the object in motion.
One of the most important tasks in medicine is an early diagnostics of diseases.
To form clinical diagnosis information about the exact location of the pathological
process, its degree of manifestation, histological structure of the invaded tissues and
other factors are necessary, which cannot be obtained with an ordinary medical examination and the widespread methods of investigation (radiography, roentgenoscopy,
endoscopy, ophthalmoscopy).
Comparing to the widespread methods, the main advantages of the optical holography methods in medicine are qualitatively new possibility of registration and
reconstruction of three-dimensional images, increase of informativity of the obtained
images, considerable improvement of resolution capacity and possibility of accurate
measurement of the spatial location of the structures under study [205].
In the sphere of medical diagnosis, direct observation plays a great role. That
is why the holographic reconstruction method gives the possibility to realize largescale and integral survey of the object under study. Two main applications are of
great interest for medicine and biology, namely observation of internals and externals
and optical processing of information. The objects of the study can be divided into
three main groups. The first group contains open objects, i.e., external organs, which
are accessible for laser illumination (e.g., face, chest, arteries, extremities, etc.) and
separate organs after postmortem examinations. The second group contains internals,
i.e., cavities accessible for optical light-transporting elements (e.g., the oral cavity,
bronchi, the esophagus, the rectum, the uterine cavity). The third group contains
cavities, which are not accessible for inserting light-transporting elements, which
are an eye and its contents—the cornea, the crystalline lens, the eye-ground, etc. The
fourth group includes moving objects, i.e., objects, which have the aim of holographic