Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) is gaining attention due its ability to study unlabeled cells and tissues. However, as Gabriel Popescu, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois points out, QPI lacks specificity: in the absence of labels, it cannot easily identify particular structures in the cell. Popescu presents a new microscopy concept: phase imaging with computational specificity (PICS), where the process of retrieving computational specificity is performed in the imaging system, in real-time.
