Small-kernel superresolution methods for microscanning imaging systems

Two computationally efficient methods for superresolution reconstruction and restoration of microscanning imaging systems are presented. Microscanning creates multiple low-resolution images with slightly different sample-scene phase shifts. The digital processing methods developed here combine the low-resolution images to produce an image with higher pixel resolution (i.e., superresolution) and higher fidelity. The methods implement reconstruction to increase resolution and restoration to improve fidelity in one-pass convolution with a small kernel. One method uses a small-kernel Wiener filter and the other method uses a parametric cubic convolution filter. Both methods are based on an end-to-end, continuous-discrete-continuous microscanning imaging system model. Because the filters are constrained to small spatial kernels they can be efficiently applied by convolution and are amenable to adaptive processing and to parallel processing. Experimental results with simulated imaging and with real microscanned images indicate that the small-kernel methods efficiently and effectively increase resolution and fidelity.     

Impact of measurement precision and noise on superresolution image reconstruction

The performance of uniform and nonuniform detector arrays for application to the PANOPTES (processing arrays of Nyquist-limited observations to produce a thin electro-optic sensor) flat camera design is analyzed for measurement noise environments including quantization noise and Gaussian and Poisson processes. Image data acquired from a commercial camera with 8 bit and 14 bit output options are analyzed, and estimated noise levels are computed. Noise variances estimated from the measurement values are used in the optimal linear estimators for superresolution image reconstruction.     

Image reconstruction for thin observation module by bound optics by using the iterative backprojection method

A method for reconstructing high-spatial-resolution images in an imaging system known as thin observation module by bound optics (TOMBO) is reported. We investigate a novel procedure combining a pixel-rearrangement method and iterative backprojection (IBP). Pixel rearrangement has been used until now in TOMBO, and IBP is a digital superresolution technique. We verify the effectiveness of the combined procedure with simulated and experimental results.     

Three-dimensional superresolution by three-zone complex pupil filters

Complex pupil filters are introduced to improve the three-dimensional resolving power of an optical imaging system. Through the design of the essential parameters of such filters, the transmittance and radius of the first zone, three-dimensional superresolution is realized. The Strehl ratio and the transverse and axial gains of such filters are analyzed in detail. A series of simulation examples of such filters are also presented that prove that three-dimensional superresolution can be realized. The advantage of such filters is that it is easy to realize three-dimensional superresolution, and the disadvantage is that the sidelobes of the axial intensity distribution are too high. But this can be overcome by the application of a confocal system.     

Adaptive flat multiresolution multiplexed computational imaging architecture utilizing micromirror arrays to steer subimager fields of view

A thin, agile multiresolution, computational imaging sensor architecture, termed PANOPTES (processing arrays of Nyguist-limited observations to produce a thin electro-optic sensor), which utilizes arrays of microelectromechanical mirrors to adaptively redirect the fields of view of multiple low-resolution subimagers, is described. An information theory-based algorithm adapts the system and restores the image. The modulation transfer function (MTF) effects of utilizing micromirror arrays to steering imaging systems are analyzed, and computational methods for combining data collected from systems with differing MTFs are presented.     

Transverse resolution improvement using rotating-grating time-multiplexing approach

The ability to improve the limited resolving power of optical imaging systems while approaching the theoretical diffraction limit has been an attractive discipline with growing interest over the last years due to its benefits in many applied optics systems. This paper presents a new approach to achieve transverse superresolution in far-field imaging systems, with direct application in both digital microscopy and digital holographic microscopy. Theoretical analysis and computer simulations show the validity of the presented approach.     

Improved superresolution in coherent optical systems

Objects that temporally vary slowly can be superresolved by the use of two synchronized moving masks such as pinholes or gratings. This approach to superresolution allows one to exceed Abbe's limit of resolution. Moreover, under coherent illumination, superresolution requires a certain approximation based on the time averaging of intensity rather than of field distribution. When extensive digital postprocessing can be incorporated into the optical system, a detector array and some postprocessing algorithms can replace the grating that is responsible for information decoding. In this way, no approximation is needed and the synchronization that is necessary when two gratings are used is simplified. Furthermore, we present two novel approaches for overcoming distortions when extensive digital postprocessing cannot be incorporated into the optical system. In the first approach, one of the gratings, in the input or at the output plane, is shifted at half the velocity of the other. In the second approach, various spectral regions are transmitted through the system's aperture to facilitate postprocessing. Experimental results are provided to demonstrate the properties of the proposed methods.     

A Magnifying Glass for Virtual Imaging of Subwavelength Resolution by Transformation Optics

Traditional magnifying glasses can give magnified virtual images with diffraction‐limited resolution, that is, detailed information is lost. Here, a novel magnifying glass by transformation optics, referred to as a “superresolution magnifying glass” (SMG) is designed, which can produce magnified virtual images with a predetermined magnification factor and resolve subwavelength details (i.e., light sources with subwavelength distances can be resolved). Based on theoretical calculations and reductions, a metallic plate structure to produce the reduced SMG in microwave frequencies, which gives good performance verified by both numerical simulations and experimental results, is proposed and realized. The function of SMG is to create a superresolution virtual image, unlike traditional superresolution imaging devices that create real images. The proposed SMG will create a new branch of superresolution imaging technology.     

Superresolution optical system with two fixed generalized Damman gratings

We present a system that exceeds the Rayleigh limit of resolution, by placing two fixed gratings in predetermined positions. Lukosz suggested a setup that managed to exceed the Rayleigh limit of resolution [J. Opt. Soc. Am. 56, 1463 (1966); 57, 932 (1967)]. However, Lukosz's technique had some drawbacks that the new suggested system attempts to resolve. Similar to Lukosz's technique, the proposed system works without any moving elements and with no time- or wavelength-restricting conditions. It is suitable for coherent or incoherent two-dimensional imaging. However, the new system contains some important modifications. Although the system uses only two gratings, it is capable of producing superresolution without using an additional imaging lens at the output plane. The generalized Damman gratings allow for obtaining undistorted spectral restoration of information. To achieve superresolution, the input object is duplicated. The trade-off for higher resolution is a smaller field of view. Experimental results validate the theoretical analysis.     

Superresolution for digital versatile discs (DVD's)

We discuss an extension of our previous research that uses image-plane optical masks to achieve superresolution in confocal scanning microscopy to the coherent optics of digital versatile disc readers. The theory and the design of superresolving optics for such high-numerical-aperture scanning coherent imaging systems is presented. A superresolving optical reader would permit superdense optical data storage, giving an improvement over the equivalent conventional storage densities by at least a factor of 2.     

Synthetic aperture superresolution with multiple off-axis holograms

An optical setup to achieve superresolution in microscopy using holographic recording is presented. The technique is based on off-axis illumination of the object and a simple optical image processing stage after the imaging system for the interferometric recording process. The superresolution effect can be obtained either in one step by combining a spatial multiplexing process and an incoherent addition of different holograms or it can be implemented sequentially. Each hologram holds the information of each different frequency bandpass of the object spectrum. We have optically implemented the approach for a low-numerical-aperture commercial microscope objective. The system is simple and robust because the holographic interferometric recording setup is done after the imaging lens.     

Target-acquisition performance in undersampled infrared imagers: static imagery to motion video

In this research we show that the target-acquisition performance of an undersampled imager improves with sensor or target motion. We provide an experiment designed to evaluate the improvement in observer performance as a function of target motion rate in the video. We created the target motion by mounting a thermal imager on a precision two-axis gimbal and varying the sensor motion rate from 0.25 to 1 instantaneous field of view per frame. A midwave thermal imager was used to permit short integration times and remove the effects of motion blur. It is shown that the human visual system performs a superresolution reconstruction that mitigates some aliasing and provides a higher (than static imagery) effective resolution. This process appears to be relatively independent of motion velocity. The results suggest that the benefits of superresolution reconstruction techniques as applied to imaging systems with motion may be limited.     

MAP fusion method for superresolution of images with locally varying pixel quality

Superresolution is a procedure that produces a high‐resolution image from a set of low‐resolution images. Many of superresolution techniques are designed for optical cameras, which produce pixel values of well‐defined uncertainty, while there are still various imaging modalities for which the uncertainty of the images is difficult to control. To construct a superresolution image from low‐resolution images with varying uncertainty, one needs to keep track of the uncertainty values in addition to the pixel values. In this paper, we develop a probabilistic approach to superresolution to address the problem of varying uncertainty. As direct computation of the analytic solution for the superresolution problem is difficult, we suggest a novel algorithm for computing the approximate solution. As this algorithm is a noniterative method based on Kalman filter‐like recursion relations, there is a potential for real‐time implementation of the algorithm. To show the efficiency of our method, we apply this algorithm to a video sequence acquired by a forward looking sonar system. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 18, 242–250, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com).     

Dealiased spectral images from aliased Fizeau Fourier transform spectroscopy measurements

Fizeau Fourier transform imaging spectroscopy (FTIS) is a technique for collecting both spatial and spectral information about an object with a Fizeau imaging interferometer and postprocessing. The technique possesses unconventional imaging properties due to the fact that the system transfer functions, including the imaging and spectral postprocessing operations, are given by cross correlations between subapertures of the optical system, in comparison with the conventional optical transfer function, which is given by the autocorrelation of the entire aperture of the system. The unconventional imaging properties of Fizeau FTIS can be exploited to form spatially dealiased spectral images from undersampled intensity measurements (obtain superresolution relative to the detector pixel spacing). We demonstrate this dealiasing technique through computer simulations and discuss the associated design and operational trade-offs.     

Object reconstruction from adaptive compressive measurements in feature-specific imaging

Static feature-specific imaging (SFSI), where the measurement basis remains fixed/static during the data measurement process, has been shown to be superior to conventional imaging for reconstruction tasks. Here, we describe an adaptive approach that utilizes past measurements to inform the choice of measurement basis for future measurements in an FSI system, with the goal of maximizing the reconstruction fidelity while employing the fewest measurements. An algorithm to implement this adaptive approach is developed for FSI systems, and the resulting systems are referred to as adaptive FSI (AFSI) systems. A simulation study is used to analyze the performance of the AFSI system for two choices of measurement basis: principal component (PC) and Hadamard. Here, the root mean squared error (RMSE) metric is employed to quantify the reconstruction fidelity. We observe that an AFSI system achieves as much as 30% lower RMSE compared to an SFSI system. The performance improvement of the AFSI systems is verified using an experimental setup employed using a digital micromirror device (DMD) array.     

Two-dimensional superresolution optical system for temporally restricted objects

Objects that vary slowly over time may be superresolved by use of moving gratings. A system of this kind was proposed three decades ago. However, such a system creates some distortion of the spectral response of the resolved objects, and it achieves superresolution in only one dimension. We propose an enhanced method based on Dammann gratings instead of regular gratings for achieving two-dimensional superresolution. The modified approach achieves results with undistorted output and relatively high light efficiency, and it is effective for both coherent and incoherent illumination. Preliminary results demonstrate the feasibility of the new approach.     

复小波的亚像元图像重建及去噪方法

通过对亚像元理论的分析,对两帧错半个像元的遥感图像进行复小波插值,引入基于层间的小波自适应阈值方法去除噪声,并通过重构得到更高分辨率的遥感图像,同时,算法对遥感图像的复原效果好于常用的方法。     

基于自适应陷波的涡街流量计信号处理系统

本介绍了以数字信号处理器为核心的实时处理系统,采用自适应陷波方法计算涡街流量计信号的频率。自适应陷波器只需估计一个参数。采用了ＤＳＰ,使得信号处理实时和系统小型化。实测结果说明,自适应陷波方法和实时处理系统是有效的。     

Thin infrared imaging systems through multichannel sampling

The size of infrared camera systems can be reduced by collecting low-resolution images in parallel with multiple narrow-aperture lenses rather than collecting a single high-resolution image with one wide-aperture lens. We describe an infrared imaging system that uses a three-by-three lenslet array with an optical system length of 2.3 mm and achieves Rayleigh criteria resolution comparable with a conventional single-lens system with an optical system length of 26 mm. The high-resolution final image generated by this system is reconstructed from the low-resolution images gathered by each lenslet. This is accomplished using superresolution reconstruction algorithms based on linear and nonlinear interpolation algorithms. Two implementations of the ultrathin camera are demonstrated and their performances are compared with that of a conventional infrared camera.     

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