Nonmechanical axial scanning laser Doppler velocimeter with directional discrimination

An axial scanning laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) with directional discrimination not requiring any moving mechanism in its probe is proposed. The proposed LDV utilizes frequency shift induced by acousto-optic modulators (AOMs) for discriminating the direction of velocity. The measurement position is axially scanned by changing the wavelength of the light input to the probe. The experimental result reveals that both the axial scan and the directional discrimination can be realized by using the proposed method without any moving element in the probe.     

A novel laser Doppler velocimeter

The idea of using a reference-beam laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) to measure the velocity of a vehicle for an inertial navigation system is proposed. In order to reduce the measurement error produced by the vehicle's jolt, a novel laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) based on the Janus configuration is presented. The system mounted at the bottom of the vehicle is composed of two single reference-beam subsystems, one of the laser probes looks forward and the other looks backward. Each of the subsystems transmits a laser at 532?nm with the same inclination angle and detects its own Doppler frequency from the scattered light. The pitch angle of the vehicle is calculated by the two detected Doppler frequencies and the inclination angle, and then the measured velocity of the vehicle is compensated. The results of the theory analysis and experiments show that the vehicle's jolt affects conventional reference-beam LDV strongly. LDV with a Janus configuration is insensitive to the inclination angle, and its measurement accuracy is much better than that of a conventional reference-beam LDV. Comparing with the DZL-1 electronic speedometer, the measurement mean error is less than 0.9%, so it is suitable to offer the parameter of velocity for a vehicle self-contained inertial navigation system.     

Implementation of a likelihood ratio test for laser Doppler velocimeter burst detection

A likelihood ratio test for laser Doppler velocimeter burst detection is derived and implemented with the appropriate photon detection statistics. This detector utilizes the first point of the autocorrelation function of the laser Doppler velocimeter photodetector signal and relies on a simple identity for this point. The detector looks at the ratio of two probability functions of the data (burst and no burst) to make its decision. Because the detector does not depend on the absolute strength of the signal, detection down to very low (-10-dB) signal-to-noise levels can be achieved. Because the autocorrelation function is insensitive to the phase of the signal, the detector will operate reliably with signals containing multiple overlapping bursts.     

Estimation of parameters of a laser Doppler velocimeter and their Cramer-Rao lower bounds

Considering the influence of acceleration and the Gaussian envelope for a laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV), parameter estimation of a Doppler signal with a Gaussian envelope was investigated based on introducing acceleration. According to the theory of mathematics statistics, the Cramer-Rao lower bounds (CRLBs) of Doppler circular frequency and its first order rate were analyzed, formulas of CRLBs were given, and the power spectrum estimation with adjustment was discussed. The results of theory and the simulation show that the CRLBs are related to the data length, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and the width of the Gaussian envelope, and they can be decreased by increasing the data length or improving the SNR; the larger the acceleration is and the narrower the Gaussian envelope is, the larger the CRLBs of Doppler circular frequency and its first order rate are; the gap between the variances of the measuring results and the CRLBs narrows when the SNR of the signal is improved, and is almost eliminated when the SNR is higher than 6?dB. It is concluded that the model presented is much more suitable for a LDV than that acquired by Rife and Boorstyn [IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory 20, 591 (1974)].     

A real-time filtering method for the drift data of a laser Doppler velocimeter

To effectively reduce the random drift of a laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV), a real-time filtering model is presented for filtering the drift data of an LDV, which is a combination of the metabolic grey model (1, 1) and the metabolic time series model AR (2). The basic principle of the metabolic grey-time series model is introduced in detail first. Then, the model is established for the static and dynamic drift data, and a Kalman filter is used to filter the drift data based on the model. The variance analysis method and the Allan variance method are employed to analyse the static drift data. The dynamic drift data are also compared before and after being modelled and filtered. The results demonstrate that the metabolic grey-time series method cannot only effectively reduce the static random drift of an LDV, but can also reduce the dynamic random drift in real time.     

Spline function approximation for velocimeter Doppler frequencymeasurement

A spline function approximation approach for measuring the Doppler spectral peak frequency in a laser Doppler velocimeter system is presented. The processor is designed for signal bursts with mean Doppler shift frequencies up to 100 MHz, input turbulence up to 20%, and photon counts as low as 300. The frequency-domain processor uses a bank of digital bandpass filters for the capture of the energy spectrum of each signal burst. The average values of the filter output energies, as a function of normalized frequency, are modeled as deterministic spline functions which are linearly weighted to evaluate the spectral peak location associated with the Doppler shift. The weighting coefficients are chosen to minimize the mean square error. Performance evaluation by simulation yields average errors in estimating mean Doppler frequencies within 0.5% for poor signal-to-noise conditions associated with a low photon count of 300 photons/burst     

Electronic processor for a laser velocimeter

Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 7, pp. 38–39, July, 1989.     

Doppler angle and flow velocity estimations using the classic and transverse Doppler effects

Current clinical Doppler ultrasound systems could only measure the flow vector parallel to the ultrasound beam axis, and the knowledge of the Doppler angle (beam-to-flow angle) is needed to calculate the real flow velocity. Currently, the Doppler angle is determined visually by manually aligning a vessel axis marker along the blood vessel on the duplex scan image of the ultrasound. The application of this procedure is often limited by practical constraints; therefore, measurements are not reliable. In order to overcome this problem, the authors developed a simple Doppler angle and flow velocity estimation method using a combination of the classic and transverse Doppler effects. This method uses only a single focused annular array transducer to estimate the Doppler angle and the flow velocity. The authors have verified experimentally that this method is successful for measuring constant flow in a flow phantom between 45 degrees and 80 degrees Doppler angle. The standard deviation of the estimated Doppler angles is less than 4.5 degrees . This method could be implemented easily in medical Doppler ultrasound systems to automatically estimate the Doppler angle and the flow velocity.     

Synchronous cavity mode and feedback wavelength scanning in dye laser oscillators with gratings

A simple result of scalar diffraction theory is used to derive the round trip phase accrual of a plane wave in dye laser oscillators containing gratings. This is used to determine configurations where the standing wave condition is satisfied at the feedback wavelength throughout an angle scan. We find that at least one such exactly synchronous configuration always exists regardless of oscillator type.     

Dual wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser using a tapered fiber

A tapered fiber is fabricated by heating and stretching a piece of optical fiber after the polymer protective cladding has been removed. An equidistant comb-like transmission spectrum, with a spacing of 1.6?nm and an extinction ratio of more than 5?dB, was obtained by the tapered fiber due to the multibeam interferences of the cladding modes. The tapered fiber was applied in a ring erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) to generate dual-wavelength lasing oscillations. The EDFL operates at wavelengths of 1557.0?nm and 1558.6?nm with a stable peak power and a signal-to-noise ratio of more than 40?dB.     

声学多普勒测速仪标校技术研究

为了提高声学多普勒测速仪输出速度的准确度,安装过程中测速基阵与载体之间的偏差角不可忽略,安装偏差角包括航向偏角,横摇角及纵摇角三类。介绍了一种三维空间上的多普勒标定技术,通过高精度的GPS导航仪以及多普勒测速仪对海底测速,利用速度比值差校准航偏角。通过纵向剖面的几何关系,从航偏角出发进而获得纵摇角和横摇角的大小,完成了三维方向上多普勒测速仪的校准,使多普勒测速仪坐标系与载体坐标系能够进行精确转换,从而提高了声学多普勒测速仪输出速度的准确度。外场试验较好地证明了该方法的有效性,分析结论看出在二维平面上,造成误差的原因主要在于安装偏角的航向偏角,而在三维空间上,尤其垂向速度,误差主要由纵摇角和横摇角产生。该方法可以快速地对三维安装偏角进行校准,运算量小,并且在对海水测速后续研究中可以形成一套体系。     

Improved scanning laser fundus imaging using polarimetry

We present a polarimetric technique to improve fundus images that notably simplifies and extends a previous procedure [Opt. Lett.27, 830 (2002)]. A generator of varying polarization states was incorporated into the illumination path of a confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope. A series of four images, corresponding to independent incoming polarization states, were recorded. From these images, the spatially resolved elements of the top row of the Mueller matrix were computed. From these elements, images with the highest and lowest quality (according to different image quality metrics) were constructed, some of which provided improved visualization of fundus structures of clinical importance (vessels and optic nerve head). The metric values were better for these constructed images than for the initially recorded images and better than averaged images. Entropy is the metric that is most sensitive to differences in the image quality. Improved visualization of features could aid in the detection, localization, and tracking of ocular disease and may be applicable in other biomedical imaging.     

Simultaneous measurement of the velocity and the displacement of the moving rough surface by a laser Doppler velocimeter

A formula that can analyze the laser Doppler velocimeter spectrum was derived. The formula showed good agreement with computational experimental results. The use of a Fourier transform lens as detection optics was proposed and was found to be independent of the displacement of the object along the direction parallel to the optical axis. An experimental method was also proposed that can make the simultaneous measurement of velocity and displacement possible simply by adding a second detector. By using two detectors, not only can displacement of the surface be measured, but also the results of the speed measurement can be compensated for.     

Self-mixing laser speckle velocimeter for blood flow measurement

A velocimeter using speckle phenomena in self-mixing laser diodes (SM-LDs) is used to evaluate the blood flow noninvasively. The mean frequency of the speckle signal obtained from the self-mixing laser diode reflects the activity of the blood flow in a certain probing area. The experimental results show that this new type of speckle velocimeter can be useful for the relative evaluation of blood flow in human tissues     

Digital holographic profilometry of the inner surface of a pipe using a current-induced wavelength change of a laser diode

Phase-shifting digital holography is applied to the measurement of the surface profile of the inner surface of a pipe for the detection of a hole in its wall. For surface contouring of the inner wall, a two-wavelength method involving an injection-current-induced wavelength change of a laser diode is used. To illuminate and obtain information on the inner surface, a cone-shaped mirror is set inside the pipe and moved along in a longitudinal direction. The distribution of a calculated optical path length in an experimental alignment is used to compensate for the distortion due to the misalignment of the mirror in the pipe. Using the proposed method, two pieces of metal sheet pasted on the inner wall of the pipe and a hole in the wall are detected. This shows that the three-dimensional profile of a metal plate on the inner wall of a pipe can be measured using simple image processing.