Removing lateral chromatic aberration in bright field optical microscopy

We present an efficient alternative to remove lateral chromatic aberration (LCA) in bright field light microscopy images. Our procedure is based on error calibration using time-sequential acquisition at different wavelengths, and error correction through digital image warping. Measurement of the displacements of fiducial marks in the red and green images relative to blue provide calibration factors that are subsequently used in test images to realign color channels digitally. We demonstrate quantitative improvement in the position and boundaries of objects in target slides and in the color content and morphology of specimens in stained biological samples. Our results show a reduction of LCA content below the 0.1% level.