Attention:The NSF Public Access Repository (PAR) system and access will be unavailable from 5:00 PM ET until 8:00 PM ET on Friday, September 11 due to maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience.


Title: NeuWS: Neural wavefront shaping for guidestar-free imaging through static and dynamic scattering media
Diffraction-limited optical imaging through scattering media has the potential to transform many applications such as airborne and space-based imaging (through the atmosphere), bioimaging (through skin and human tissue), and fiber-based imaging (through fiber bundles). Existing wavefront shaping methods can image through scattering media and other obscurants by optically correcting wavefront aberrations using high-resolution spatial light modulators—but these methods generally require (i) guidestars, (ii) controlled illumination, (iii) point scanning, and/or (iv) statics scenes and aberrations. We propose neural wavefront shaping (NeuWS), a scanning-free wavefront shaping technique that integrates maximum likelihood estimation, measurement modulation, and neural signal representations to reconstruct diffraction-limited images through strong static and dynamic scattering media without guidestars, sparse targets, controlled illumination, nor specialized image sensors. We experimentally demonstrate guidestar-free, wide field-of-view, high-resolution, diffraction-limited imaging of extended, nonsparse, and static/dynamic scenes captured through static/dynamic aberrations.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1730574
PAR ID:
10493065
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Science Advances
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Science Advances
Volume:
9
Issue:
26
ISSN:
2375-2548
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Imaging through scattering media is a fundamental and pervasive challenge infields ranging from medical diagnos-tics to astronomy. A promising strategy to overcome this challenge is wavefront modulation, which induces measure-ment diversity during image acquisition. Despite its importance, designing optimal wavefront modulations to image through scattering remains under-explored. This paper in-troduces a novel learning-based framework to address the gap. Our approach jointly optimizes wavefront modulations and a computationally lightweight feedforward “proxy” re-construction network. This network is trained to recover scenes obscured by scattering, using measurements that are modified by these modulations. The learned modulations produced by our framework generalize effectively to un-seen scattering scenarios and exhibit remarkable versatility. During deployment, the learned modulations can be decou-pled from the proxy network to augment other more computationally expensive restoration algorithms. Through ex-tensive experiments, we demonstrate our approach signifi-cantly advances the state of the art in imaging through scat-tering media. 
    more » « less
  2. Second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy is a valuable tool for optical microscopy. SHG microscopy is normally performed as a point scanning imaging method, which lacks phase information and is limited in spatial resolution by the spatial frequency support of the illumination optics. In addition, aberrations in the illumination are difficult to remove. We propose and demonstrate SHG holographic synthetic aperture holographic imaging in both the forward (transmission) and backward (epi) imaging geometries. By taking a set of holograms with varying incident angle plane wave illumination, the spatial frequency support is increased and the input and output pupil phase aberrations are estimated and corrected – producing diffraction limited SHG imaging that combines the spatial frequency support of the input and output optics. The phase correction algorithm is computationally efficient and robust and can be applied to any set of measured field imaging data. 
    more » « less
  3. Abstract Metalenses, with their ultrathin thicknesses and their ease for achieving ultra small diameters, offer a promising alternative to refractive lenses in miniaturized imaging systems, such as endoscopes, potentially enabling applications in tightly confined spaces. However, traditional metalenses suffer from strong chromatic aberrations, limiting their utility in multi-color imaging. To address this limitation, here we present an inverse-designed polychromatic metalens with a diameter of 680 μm, focal length of 400 μm, and low dispersion across 3 distinct wavelengths at 643 nm, 532 nm, and 444 nm. The metalens collimates and steers light emitted from a scanning fiber tip, generating scanning beams across a 70° field-of-view to provide illumination for a scan-based imaging. The metalens provides a close-to-diffraction-limited 0.5° angular resolution, only restricted by the effective aperture of the system. The average relative efficiency among three design wavelengths is around 32% for on-axis angle and 13% averaged across the entire field-of-view. This work holds promise for the application of metalenses in endoscopes and other miniaturized imaging systems. 
    more » « less
  4. We present a two-photon fluorescence microscope designed for high-speed imaging of neural activity in cellular resolution. Our microscope uses line illumination with an adaptive sampling scheme. Instead of building images pixel by pixel via scanning a diffraction-limited spot across the tissue, our scheme only illuminates the regions of interest (i.e., neuronal cell bodies), and samples a large area of them in a single measurement. This significantly increases the imaging speed and reduces the overall laser power on the sample. We characterized the imaging resolution and verified the concept of adaptive sampling through phantom samples. Our approach holds great promise for high-throughput neural activity imaging. 
    more » « less
  5. Abstract Label‐free super‐resolution (LFSR) imaging relies on light‐scattering processes in nanoscale objects without a need for fluorescent (FL) staining required in super‐resolved FL microscopy. The objectives of this Roadmap are to present a comprehensive vision of the developments, the state‐of‐the‐art in this field, and to discuss the resolution boundaries and hurdles that need to be overcome to break the classical diffraction limit of the label‐free imaging. The scope of this Roadmap spans from the advanced interference detection techniques, where the diffraction‐limited lateral resolution is combined with unsurpassed axial and temporal resolution, to techniques with true lateral super‐resolution capability that are based on understanding resolution as an information science problem, on using novel structured illumination, near‐field scanning, and nonlinear optics approaches, and on designing superlenses based on nanoplasmonics, metamaterials, transformation optics, and microsphere‐assisted approaches. To this end, this Roadmap brings under the same umbrella researchers from the physics and biomedical optics communities in which such studies have often been developing separately. The ultimate intent of this paper is to create a vision for the current and future developments of LFSR imaging based on its physical mechanisms and to create a great opening for the series of articles in this field. 
    more » « less