Despite imaging systems that scan a single-element benefit from mature technology, they suffer from acquisition times linearly proportional to the spatial resolution. A promising option is to use a single-pixel system that benefits from data collection strategies based on compressive sampling. Single-pixel systems also offer the possibility to use dedicated sensors such as a fiber spectrometer for multispectral imaging or a distribution of photodiodes for 3D imaging. The image is obtained by lighting the scene with microstructured masks implemented onto a programmable spatial light modulator. The masks are used as generalized measurement modes where the object information is expressed and the image is recovered through algebraic optimization. The fundamental reason why the bucket detection strategy can outperform conventional optical array detection is the use of a single channel detector that simultaneously integrates all the photons transmitted through the patterned scene. Spatial frequencies that are not transmitted through this low-quality optics are demonstrated to be present in the retrieved image. Our work makes two specific contributions within the field of single-pixel imaging through patterned illumination. First, we demonstrate that single-pixel imaging improves the resolution of conventional imaging systems overcoming the Rayleigh criterion. An analysis of resolution using a low NA microscope objective for imaging at a CCD camera shows that single-pixel cameras are not limited at all by the optical quality of the collection optics. Second, we experimentally demonstrate the capability of our technique to properly recover an image even when an optical diffuser is located in between the sample and the bucket detector.

Date Published: 9 March 2015
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 9330, Three-Dimensional and Multidimensional Microscopy: Image Acquisition and Processing XXII, 93301O (9 March 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2079477

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9330:
Three-Dimensional and Multidimensional Microscopy: Image Acquisition and Processing XXII
Thomas G. Brown; Carol J. Cogswell; Tony Wilson, Editor(s)