Multi-wavelength imaging system
First Claim
1. A multi-energy polarization imaging system comprising:
- (a) at least one energy source for irradiating a target with at least one quantity of light and at least one quantity of energy, the at least one quantity of light comprising at least one wavelength of light and the at least one quantity of energy comprising at least one wavelength of energy, wherein the wavelength of the energy is either shorter or longer than the wavelength of the at least one quantity of light;
(b) a polarization-state generator for generating a polarization state for each quantity of light, the polarization-state generator comprising at least one polarizer, each polarizer being adapted to polarize an individual wavelength before the one or more quantities of light enter a first waveplate;
(c) a polarization-state receiver for evaluating a resulting polarization state of each of the one or more quantities of light following illumination of the target, the polarization-state receiver comprising a second waveplate through which the one or more quantities of light are transmitted before entering at least one second polarizer;
(d) an image-capture device for capturing at least a first image and a second image of the target irradiated by the at least one quantity of light and the at least one quantity of energy, the first image corresponding to an image of the target generated from the wavelength of light and the second image corresponding to an image of the target generated from the wavelength of energy; and
(e) a processing unit for assigning a weighting factor to at least one of the first and second images and evaluating a weighted difference between the first and second images to generate a multi-wavelength image of the target.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a multi-energy system that generates and/or forms images of targets/structures by applying Mueller matrix imaging principles and/or Stokes polarimetric parameter imaging principles to data obtained by the multi-energy system. In one embodiment, the present invention utilizes at least one energy or light source to generate two or more Mueller matrix and/or Stokes polarization parameters images of a target/structure, and evaluates the Mueller matrix/Stokes polarization parameters multi-spectral difference(s) between the two or more images of the target/structure. As a result, high contrast, high specificity images can be obtained. Additional information can be obtained by and/or from the present invention through the application of image, Mueller matrix decomposition, and/or image reconstruction techniques that operate directly on the Mueller matrix and/or Stokes polarization parameters.
136 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A multi-energy polarization imaging system comprising:
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(a) at least one energy source for irradiating a target with at least one quantity of light and at least one quantity of energy, the at least one quantity of light comprising at least one wavelength of light and the at least one quantity of energy comprising at least one wavelength of energy, wherein the wavelength of the energy is either shorter or longer than the wavelength of the at least one quantity of light;
(b) a polarization-state generator for generating a polarization state for each quantity of light, the polarization-state generator comprising at least one polarizer, each polarizer being adapted to polarize an individual wavelength before the one or more quantities of light enter a first waveplate;
(c) a polarization-state receiver for evaluating a resulting polarization state of each of the one or more quantities of light following illumination of the target, the polarization-state receiver comprising a second waveplate through which the one or more quantities of light are transmitted before entering at least one second polarizer;
(d) an image-capture device for capturing at least a first image and a second image of the target irradiated by the at least one quantity of light and the at least one quantity of energy, the first image corresponding to an image of the target generated from the wavelength of light and the second image corresponding to an image of the target generated from the wavelength of energy; and
(e) a processing unit for assigning a weighting factor to at least one of the first and second images and evaluating a weighted difference between the first and second images to generate a multi-wavelength image of the target. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A multi-energy polarization imaging system comprising:
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(i) at least one light source for illuminating a target with at least one quantity of light, the at least one quantity of light comprising at least two wavelengths of light, a first wavelength and a second wavelength, the second wavelength being different than the first wavelength;
(ii) a polarization-state generator for generating a polarization state for each quantity of light, the polarization-state generator comprising at least two polarizers, each polarizer being adapted to polarize an individual wavelength before the one or more quantities of light enter at least one first waveplate;
(iii) a polarization-state receiver for evaluating a resulting polarization state of each of the one or more quantities of light following illumination of the target, the polarization-state receiver comprising at least one second waveplate through which the one or more quantities of light are transmitted before entering at least one second polarizer;
(iv) an image-capture device for capturing at least a first image and a second image of the target illuminated by the at least one quantity of light, the first image corresponding to an image of the target generated from the first wavelength component of the at least one quantity of light and the second image corresponding to an image of the target generated from the second wavelength component of the at least one quantity of light; and
(v) a processing unit for assigning a weighting factor to at least one of the first and second images and evaluating a weighted difference between the first and second images to generate a multi-wavelength image of the target. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A multi-energy polarization imaging system comprising:
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(A) at least one light source for illuminating a target with at least one quantity of light, the at least one quantity of light comprising at least two wavelengths of light, a first wavelength and a second wavelength, the second wavelength being different than the first wavelength;
(B) a polarization-state generator for generating a polarization state for each quantity of light, the polarization-state generator comprising at least one polarizer, each polarizer being adapted to polarize an individual wavelength before the one or more quantities of light enter through at least one rotating ¼
waveplate linear retarder;
(C) a polarization-state receiver for evaluating a resulting polarization state of each of the one or more quantities of light following illumination of the target, the polarization-state receiver comprising at least one second rotating ¼
waveplate linear retarder through which the one or more wavelengths of light are transmitted before entering at least one second polarizer;
(D) an image-capture device for capturing at least a first image and a second image of the target illuminated by the at least one quantity of light, the first image corresponding to an image of the target generated from the first wavelength of light and the second image corresponding to an image of the target generated from the second wavelength of light, wherein the image-capture device receives and/or generates for each of the at least first and second images at least 16 individual polarization-state measurements; and
(E) a processing unit for comparing the at least 16 individual polarization state measurements from the at least first and second images. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for generating a multi-modality image of a target, the method comprising the steps of:
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(i) emitting at least two quantities of energy, at least one quantity of energy being a quantity of light having a first wavelength, the second quantity of energy having a second wavelength different from the first wavelength, the second wavelength being selected from the gamma ray, X-ray, ultraviolet ray, visible, infrared ray, radar, RF, microwaves, and/or radio wave portions of the electromagnetic spectrum;
(ii) creating an initial polarization state for at least the one quantity of light by polarizing and then retarding one component of the at least the one quantity of light relative to another component of the at least one quantity of light;
(iii) directing the at least two quantities of energy generally toward the target so that the target is irradiated by the at least two quantities of energy, including directing the polarization state of any polarized energy generally toward the target in the instance where at least a portion of the energy is polarized;
(iv) analyzing a resulting polarization state for each of the first and second quantities of energy by retarding one component of the first and second quantities of energy following irradiation of the target relative to another component of the first and second quantities of energy, and then polarizing the retarded first and second quantities of energy;
(v) capturing a first image of the target irradiated by the first quantity of energy and a second image of the target irradiated by the second quantity of energy;
(vi) optionally weighting at least one of the first and second images; and
(vii) generating the multi-energy image of the target by evaluating a weighted difference between the first and second images, and/or by comparing and/or combining the first and second images. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification