Signal-processing characteristics of differentialinterference-contrast microscopy.

A mathematical model based on the methods of Fourier optics is presented as a description of the signalprocessing characteristics of differential-interference-contrast microscopy. A computerized simulation of this signal processing is described, and some images of abstract objects generated by this simulation are presented. This model and its simulation have implications on the feasibility of image restoration with superresolution by way of differential-interference-contrast microscopy under the classical constraints of finite object size and non-negativity. Such implications are discussed, and the encouraging results of a study into such feasibility are shown.