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This doctoral thesis deals with biophysical interpretation of quantitative phase imaging (QPI) gained with coherence-controlled holographic microscope (CCHM). In the first part methods evaluating information from QPI such as analysis of shape and dynamical characteristics of segmented objects as well as evaluation of the phase information itself are described. In addition, a method of dynamic phase differences (DPD) is designed to allow more detailed monitoring of cell mass translocations. All of these methods are used in biological applications. In an extensive study of various types of cell death, QPI information is compared with flow cytometry data, and preferably a combination of QPI and fluorescence microscopy is used. The DPD method is used to study mass translocations inside the cell during osmotic events. The simplified DPD method is applied to investigate the mechanism of tumor cell movement in collagen gels.

ransmitted-light coherence-controlled holographic microscope (CCHM) based on an off-axis achromatic and space-invariant interferometer with a diffractive beamsplitter has been designed, constructed and tested. It is capable to image objects illuminated by light sources of arbitrary degree of temporal and spatial coherence. Off-axis image-plane hologram is recorded and the image complex amplitude (intensity and phase) is reconstructed numerically using fast Fourier transform algorithms. Phase image represents the optical path difference between the object and the reference arms caused by presence of an object. Therefore, it is a quantitative phase contrast image. Intensity image is confocal-like. Optical sectioning effect induced by an extended, spatial incoherent light source is equivalent to a conventional confocal image. CCHM is therefore capable to image objects under a diffusive layer or immersed in a turbid media. Spatial and temporal incoherence of illumination makes the optical sectioning effect stronger compared to a confocal imaging process. Object wave reconstruction from the only one recorded interference pattern ensures high resistance to vibrations and medium or ambience fluctuations. The frame rate is not limited by any component of the optical setup. Only the detector and computer speeds limit the frame rate. CCHM therefore allows observation of rapidly varying phenomena. CCHM makes the ex-post numerical refocusing possible within the coherence volume. Coherence degree of the light source in CCHM can be adapted to the object and to the required image properties. More coherent illumination provides wider range of numerical refocusing. On the other hand, a lower degree of coherence makes the optical sectioning stronger, i.e. the optical sections are thiner, it reduces coherence-noise and it makes it possible to separate the ballistic light. In addition to the ballistic light separation, CCHM enables us to separate the diffused light. Multi-colour-light

The dissertation deals with the image processing in digital holographic microscopy and X-ray computed tomography. The focus of the work lies in the proposal of data processing techniques to meet the needs of the biological experiments. Transmitted light holographic microscopy is particularly used for quantitative phase imaging of transparent microscopic objects such as living cells. The phase images are affected by the phase aberrations that make the analysis particularly difficult. Here, we present a novel algorithm for dynamical processing of living cells phase images in a time-lapse sequence. The algorithm compensates for the deformation of a phase image using weighted least squares surface fitting. Moreover, it identifies and segments the individual cells in the phase image. This property of the algorithm is important for real-time cell quantitative phase imaging and instantaneous control of the course of the experiment. The efficiency of the propounded algorithm is demonstrated on images of rat fibrosarcoma cells using an off-axis holographic microscope. High resolution X-ray computed tomography is increasingly used technique for the study of the small rodent bones micro-structure. In this part of the work, the trabecular and cortical bone morphology is assessed in the distal half of rat femur. We developed new method for mapping the cortical position and dimensions from a central longitudinal axis with one degree angular resolution. This method was used to examine differences between experimental groups. The bone position in tomographic slices is aligned before the mapping using the propound standardization procedure. The activity of remodelling process of the long bone is studied on the system of cortical canals.