Description:
Project ID: TECH2024-09
Background
High image resolution is a desired outcome in wave-related disciplines such as ultrasound, acoustics, optics, and electromagnetics. However, the spatial resolution of an imaging system is fundamentally limited by the spatial frequency of the point spread function (PSF) of the system due to diffraction. There have been numerous methods developed over past
few decades for super-resolution imaging (SRI) to break the diffraction limit, but most of these methods are very specific and are not generally applicable in different areas of science and engineering. In our novel technology, a general PSF-modulation method was developed for super-resolution imaging. In our patented method, the PSF of an imaging
system is modulated so that the resulting PSF has a higher spatial frequency. The modulated PSF is then scanned through an object or is processed with a camera or a holographic imaging system, to get a super-resolution image. In addition, a variant of this method called PSF-weighted super-resolution imaging was developed, where, like in the
camera or the holographic imaging system, the modulator itself is scanned or moved through an object to form an image.
Invention Description
A researcher at the University of Toledo has developed a novel method for 4-D super-resolution imaging of a passive object or a wave source/field by introducing modulator(s) to the Point-Spread Function of a Linear Shift-Invariant (LSI) and Linear Time-Invariant (LTI) imaging system.
Advantages
- Incorporates modulator(s) to object to achieve super-resolution imaging.
- Increases the spatial frequency of the point-spread-function.
- Easy to implement in different areas of science and engineering where SRI is needed.
- Higher image resolution than the distraction limit dictated by wave physics.
- Enables Nanoscale imaging.
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Publication: Jian-yu Lu . Modulation of Point Spread Function for Super-Resolution Imaging. TechRxiv. December 04, 2023
IP Status: Patent Pending