Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41509954›Full record

ArticleeLight2026

Deep-ultraviolet ptychographic pocket-scope (DART): mesoscale lensless molecular imaging with label-free spectroscopic contrast.

Ruihai Wang, Qianhao Zhao, Julia Quinn, Liming Yang, Yuhui Zhu, Feifei Huang, Chengfei Guo, Tianbo Wang, Pengming Song, Michael Murphy and 4 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in eLight, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Ruihai Wang *Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269 USA.
Qianhao Zhao *Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269 USA.
Julia QuinnImmunopathology Laboratory, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06030 USA.
Liming YangDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269 USA.
Yuhui ZhuDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269 USA.
Feifei HuangDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269 USA.
Chengfei GuoDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269 USA.
Tianbo WangDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269 USA.
Pengming SongDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269 USA.
Michael MurphyImmunopathology Laboratory, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06030 USA.
Thanh D NguyenDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269 USA.
Andrew MaidenDepartment of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, SYK S1 3JD UK.
Francisco E RoblesWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30332 USA.
Guoan ZhengDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269 USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4268-2690

Funding

Label-free digital cytopathology using deep-ultraviolet coded ptychography with intrinsic molecular contrastR01EB034744 · NIBIB · UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT STORRS · PI Guoan Zheng · 2023 to 2026
$1.4M
NIBIB NIH HHS R01 EB034744
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The mesoscale characterization of biological specimens has traditionally required compromises between resolution, field-of-view, depth-of-field, and molecular specificity, with most approaches relying on external labels. Here we present the Deep-ultrAviolet ptychogRaphic pockeT-scope (DART), a handheld platform that transforms label-free molecular imaging through intrinsic deep-ultraviolet spectroscopic contrast. By leveraging biomolecules' natural absorption fingerprints and combining them with lensless ptychographic microscopy, DART resolves down to 308-nm linewidths across centimeter-scale areas while maintaining millimeter-scale depth-of-field. The system's virtual error-bin methodology effectively eliminates artifacts from limited temporal coherence and other optical imperfections, enabling high-fidelity molecular imaging without lenses. Through differential spectroscopic imaging at deep-ultraviolet wavelengths, DART quantitatively maps nucleic acid and protein distributions with femtogram sensitivity, providing an intrinsic basis for explainable virtual staining. We demonstrate DART's capabilities through imaging of tissue sections, cytopathology specimens, blood cells, and neural populations, revealing detailed molecular contrast without external labels. The combination of high-resolution molecular mapping and broad mesoscale imaging in a portable platform opens new possibilities from rapid clinical diagnostics, tissue analysis, to biological characterization in space exploration. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s43593-025-00103-y.

Identifiers

PMID41509954
PMCPMC12774955

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.