J. Clemente Contreras and James A. Silas. Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Reflection interference contrast microscopy (RICM) is a microinterferometric technique that is used to study particle and vesicle interactions with surfaces. An image formed by RICM contains precise information about the topography of the object under observation; however, current use focuses on comparison of interference patterns to patterns from known geometries and sizes. As our work primarily uses deformable objects, we seek to relax the assumptions about the geometry of the reflecting surface and develop a Generalized Inverse RICM procedure. Generalized Inverse RICM uses non-planar image formation theory within a regularization procedure to reconstruct the local geometry of a reflecting surface in systems with either single reflecting layers (particles) or double reflecting layers (vesicles). The resulting procedures yield the location of a particle in three dimensions as well as a direct measurement of particle shape near a surface.