System and method for object detection in holographic lens-free imaging by convolutional dictionary learning and encoding with phase recovery

Systems and methods for detecting objects in a holographic image are provided. The techniques include obtaining a holographic image having one or more objects depicted therein. A set of object templates is obtained. The set of object templates represents objects to be detected in the holographic image. One or more objects are detected in the holographic image using the set of object templates by iteratively computing a phase (θ) of the optical wavefront at the hologram plane, background illumination (μ). and encoding coefficients (A) for the set of object templates, until converged.