直视合成孔径激光成像雷达原理

提出了直视合成孔径激光成像雷达(SAIL)概念,发射采用两个正交偏振同轴且相对扫描的空间抛物波差的光束,接收采用自差及相位复数化探测。在交轨向产生与目标点横向位置正比的线性项相位调制,在顺轨向产生以目标点纵向位置为中心的二次项相位历程,成像处理采用傅里叶变换实现交轨向聚焦和采用匹配滤波实现顺轨向聚焦。直视SAIL与侧视SAIL一样能够使用小光学孔径在远距离实现高分辨率二维成像,但具有本质独特性即线性和二次相位项和光学足趾及其相关联的成像分辨率无论在设计和使用时都具有很大的控制调整范围,并克服了存在于侧视SAIL中的许多技术难点。直视SAIL在原理和方法上都属于光学领域。给出了直视SAIL的一般性体系结构,在数学上详细描述了包括目标信息获取和成像处理的基本原理。     

Far-field outdoor experimental demonstration of down-looking synthetic aperture ladar

A specific system structure of down-looking synthetic aperture imaging ladar(SAIL) is given, and a far-field experiment over 6 km of down-looking SAIL under this system design is carried out. The down-looking SAIL can overcome the influence of atmospheric turbulence to a great extent. By applying this system design, it also has advantages in self-compensating phase modulation. A fine image is obtained after aligning in the orthogonal direction and phase error compensation in the travel direction based on a dominant scatterer. The achieved imaging resolutions in the two dimensions are both better than 5 cm.     

Laboratory demonstration of spotlight-mode down-looking synthetic aperture imaging ladar

We present a tabletop-scale spotlight-mode down-looking synthetic aperture imaging ladar(DL SAIL) demonstrator, which is performed by a collimator with 10 m focal length to simulate the far-field optical field.A specular-point target and a diffuse-reflection target have been used for resolution analysis and 2D imaging,respectively. The experimental result is in agreement with the theoretical design. The experiment setup is capable of simulating a real application scenario for further study. This Letter is focused on the proposition and implementation of spotlight-mode DL SAIL.     

Experimental research of circular incoherently synthetic aperture imaging ladar using chirped-laser and heterodyne detection

Synthetic aperture imaging ladar (SAIL) technique belongs fully coherent processing in both the time domain and space domain and has a rather high implement difficulty. To solve this problem, the concept of circular incoherently SAIL is introduced. A speckle version image of a two-dimensional (2D) letter ’E’ target is reconstructed from E-field projection data detected by a circular incoherently SAIL system. The experimental system is constructed by three subsystems using chirped-pulse laser as the light source and heterodyne detection to get the range information of the target. The reconstruction of the image and the noise effect are also discussed in detail.     

Speckle reduction of synthetic aperture imaging ladar based on wavelength characteristics

We propose a speckle-reduction method based on wavelength characteristics of speckle effect in synthetic aperture imaging ladar （SAIL）. The return signal, which is the back scattering field with speckle effect from the rough surface of target, can be integrated over N chirp periods and heterodyne detected with a local-oscillator signal. After performing image processing respectively, the final image can be regarded as the incoherent superposition of the N sub-images. Numerical simulations indicate the effectiveness of this method. Our research may facilitate practical applications of SAIL.     

大口径合成孔径激光成像雷达演示样机及其实验室验证

合成孔径激光成像雷达(SAIL)的主要技术指标如光学足趾尺寸和成像分辨率等都必须在所设计的远距离传输后实现.提出了一种在实验室空间近距离实现SAIL全系统贯通验证的方法,即在SAIL中附加光学装置使得其在近距离产生发射光束的准几何投影和足够大的外差接收视场,从而产生近距离二维SAIL成像必需的并且适当的光学足趾和方位向...     

基于散斑抑制的合成孔径激光成像雷达的结构和工作模式

目标漫反射产生的激光回波散斑效应严重影响合成孔径激光成像雷达(SAIL)的成像质量。在体系结构上提出了抑制散斑效应的系统性解决方案,建立了SAIL结构和工作模式设计的理论基础。研究了SAIL中与目标分辨单元尺寸、啁啾波长变化、目标相关性质和接收面光强随机分布有关的散斑统计特性。定义了SAIL光学接收天线的散斑孔径积分场复相干函数,它是天线孔径相关函数和目标分辨单元相关因子的卷积,其宽度就是可实现的孔径合成长度,给出了实现较大的孔径合成长度的发射口径、接收口径和实际孔径合成长度的设计原则,发现和分析了由啁啾散斑移动产生的拍频信号波动。最后建议采用滑动聚束模式来有效使用散斑效应造成较短的孔径合成尺度,因为其光束扫描宽度对SAIL移动距离有放大作用。同时也提出了具有多发射机/多接收机的多通道结构以提高回波散斑光场的探测率。     

尺度缩小合成孔径激光成像雷达的孔径合成实验

设计了一种尺度缩小的合成孔径激光成像雷达(SAIL),在实验室平台上模拟实施远场传输条件,相应地解决了波前测量和外差质量监视技术,实现了一个目标点的方位向孔径合成实验,实验结果与理论预测相近.     

Neural network enhanced 3D turbo spin echo for MR intracranial vessel wall imaging

PurposeTo improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and image sharpness for whole brain isotropic 0.5 mm three-dimensional (3D) T₁ weighted (T₁w) turbo spin echo (TSE) intracranial vessel wall imaging (IVWI) at 3 T.MethodsThe variable flip angle (VFA) method enables useful optimization across scan efficiency, SNR and relaxation induced point spread function (PSF) for TSE imaging. A convolutional neural network (CNN) was developed to retrospectively enhance the acquired TSE image with PSF blurring. The previously developed VFA method to increase SNR at the expense of blur can be combined with the presented PSF correction to yield long echo train length (ETL) scan while the acquired image remains high SNR and sharp. The overall approach can enable an optimized solution for accelerated whole brain high-resolution 3D T₁w TSE IVWI. Its performance was evaluated on healthy volunteers and patients.ResultsThe PSF blurred image acquired by a long ETL scan can be enhanced by CNN to restore similar sharpness as a short ETL scan, which outperforms the traditional linear PSF enhancement approach. For accelerated whole brain IVWI on volunteers, the optimized isotropic 0.5 mm 3D T₁w TSE sequence with CNN based PSF enhancement provides sufficient flow suppression and improved image quality. Preliminary results on patients further demonstrated its improved delineation for intracranial vessel wall and plaque morphology.ConclusionThe CNN enhanced VFA TSE imaging enables an overall image quality improvement for high-resolution 3D T₁w IVWI, and may provide a better tradeoff across scan efficiency, SNR and PSF for 3D TSE acquisitions.     

一种机载合成孔径成像激光雷达聚束模式成像算法

合成孔径成像激光雷达是一种新的主动式有源的成像系统,可以获得比合成孔径雷达更高的分辨率,和更接近光学图片的效果.首先,在理想条件下分析了调频连续波的信号模型,推导出在连续波系统聚束模式下一种适用于机载合成孔径成像激光雷达系统的频率变标算法.然后,使用傅里叶变换法对符合von Karman谱的随机相位屏模拟大气湍流,并分析了Fried参量和合成孔径长度之间的关系.最后,仿真说明真空中采用方位预处理可以消除图像重影,并且补偿多普勒频移项可以消除8.6～9.3dB的能量损失和使图像散焦的现象.而在有大气影响时,合成孔径长度的选择小于Fried参量时,图像方位向可以良好聚焦.     

点云投影结合轻量化卷积神经网络实现三维成像声呐快速目标分类*

三维成像声呐的成像结果是三维点云,基于点云的三维成像声呐目标分类方法具有网络结构复杂,计算量大的特点,针对这一问题本文提出了一种将三维成像声呐成像结果从三维点云投影至二维图像的方法,并且使用轻量化卷积神经网络实现了三维成像声呐快速目标分类。该方法首先对三维成像声呐波束形成后的波束域数据进行最大值滤波和阈值滤波,降低点云数据维度;接着,依据三维成像声呐的波束方向,将点云投影为深度图和强度图,分别保存点云的位置信息和强度信息;然后,利用深度图和强度图分别作为第一个通道和第二个通道构建混合通道图,将混合通道图作为目标分类网络的输入,从而将三维点云的目标分类问题转换为二维图像的目标分类问题;最后使用MobileNetV2网络实现了三维成像声呐快速目标分类。实验结果表明,通过本文提出的投影方法可以用二维图像分类网络完成三维成像声呐点云的目标分类任务;而且混合通道图比单独的强度图和深度图收敛速度更快,结合目标识别网络可以25fps实时的进行目标分类,在真实数据集上分类精度达到了91.13%。     

Centric scan SPRITE magnetic resonance imaging: optimization of SNR, resolution, and relaxation time mapping

Two strategies for the optimization of centric scan SPRITE (single point ramped imaging with T1 enhancement) magnetic resonance imaging techniques are presented. Point spread functions (PSF) for the centric scan SPRITE methodologies are numerically simulated, and the blurring manifested in a centric scan SPRITE image through PSF convolution is characterized. Optimal choices of imaging parameters and k-space sampling scheme are predicted to obtain maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) while maintaining acceptable image resolution. The point spread function simulation predictions are verified experimentally. The acquisition of multiple FID points following each RF excitation is described and the use of the Chirp z-Transform algorithm for the scaling of field of view (FOV) of the reconstructed images is illustrated. Effective recombination of the rescaled images for SNR improvement and T*2 mapping is demonstrated.     

Down-looking synthetic aperture imaging ladar demonstrator and its experiments over 1.2 km outdoor

We present a down-looking synthetic aperture imaging ladar demonstrator and its experiments over 1.2 km in the field. The achieved imaging resolution is in agreement with the theoretical design, and the resulting two-dimensional image is satisfied. The capability to eliminate the influence from atmospheric turbulence is fully proven by the experiments.     

大随机相位误差下条带模式合成孔径激光雷达成像实验

为了探索大随机相位误差条件下合成孔径雷达(SAL)成像特点和规律,本文采用波长为1 550 nm的线性调频激光器建立了能够产生大的共模随机相位误差的条带模式SAL成像实验装置。利用此装置获得了不同目标回波强度下条带模式SAL成像实验数据,结合条带模式相位梯度自聚焦(PGA)多次迭代处理,获得了高分辨率SAL图像。实验发现在[-6. 45π,6. 45π]范围的大随机相位误差下,通过简单的距离压缩和方位匹配滤波,无法实现SAL图像聚焦,图像信噪比仅为3 dB。进一步采用PGA处理,就能很好地校正相位误差,得到聚焦良好的SAL图像,图像信噪比达到43 dB。实验还发现,当存在大共模随机相位误差时,PGA处理展现出非常强的鲁棒性,在回波弱到10-15W的情况下依然有效。在大相位误差存在的SAL系统(如机载SAL)中,PGA处理能有效消除相位误差,实现图像聚焦;另外,增大探测激光功率以提高成像数据信噪比,将有助于提升PGA处理效果。     

Fourier Telescopy extrapolation based on the sampling theorem

Fourier Telecopy (FT) technique plays a promising role in deep space target detection. To improve the imaging quality of circular transmitting telescope array FT, a new processing method which adopts an extrapolation method based on the sampling theorem is proposed. Simulation results show that the extrapolation method can obviously improve system imaging resolution as well as reconstructed image quality. Even at a relative low SNR level the method improves system imaging resolution to a certain extent.     

移位相加法日间探测低信噪比恒星

为实现白天红外光电测量系统对低信噪比恒星的质心及能量高精度计算,本文给出一种高效的方法。首先,分析了红外光学系统白天恒星的成像特征。其次,先对采集的图像序列进行预处理操作得到预处理图像。接着对预处理图像序列执行叠加求均值和下采样操作得到下采样图像。在下采样图像中以亮度为特征求取恒星的疑似位置后,在预处理图像序列上建立与疑似位置相对应的目标区域,在目标区域内顺序求取质心序列。对目标区域的图像序列以质心偏移为基础进行移位相加后获取目标图像。在目标图像上以信噪比为判据完成恒星提取,以及质心和能量的计算。再次,分析指出此方法能增强目标信噪比的原理,并给出其适用范围以及相关参数的确定方法。最后通过实验表明,采用移位相加法可增强目标的信噪比,并提高提取正确率;且对于SNR不大于4.8的恒星可将其质心和能量计算精度平均提高0.06 pixel和28.5%。移位相加法对低信噪比的恒星可较为精确地计算其质心和能量。     

High resolution inverse synthetic aperture radar imaging of three-axis-stabilized space target by exploiting orbital and sparse priors

The development of inverse synthetic aperture radar(ISAR) imaging techniques is of notable significance for monitoring, tracking and identifying space targets in orbit. Usually, a well-focused ISAR image of a space target can be obtained in a deliberately selected imaging segment in which the target moves with only uniform planar rotation. However, in some imaging segments, the nonlinear range migration through resolution cells(MTRCs) and time-varying Doppler caused by the three-dimensional rotation of the target would degrade the ISAR imaging performance, and it is troublesome to realize accurate motion compensation with conventional methods. Especially in the case of low signal-to-noise ratio(SNR),the estimation of motion parameters is more difficult. In this paper, a novel algorithm for high-resolution ISAR imaging of a space target by using its precise ephemeris and orbital motion model is proposed. The innovative contributions are as follows. 1) The change of a scatterer projection position is described with the spatial-variant angles of imaging plane calculated based on the orbital motion model of the three-axis-stabilized space target. 2) A correction method of MTRC in slant-and cross-range dimensions for arbitrarily imaging segment is proposed. 3) Coarse compensation for translational motion using the precise ephemeris and the fine compensation for residual phase errors by using sparsity-driven autofocus method are introduced to achieve a high-resolution ISAR image. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Comparison of mouse brain DTI maps using K-space average,image-space average,or no average approach

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is achieved by collecting a series of diffusion-weighted images (DWIs). Signal averaging of multiple repetitions can be performed in the k-space (k-avg) or in the image space (m-avg) to improve the image quality. Alternatively, one can treat each acquisition as an independent image and use all of the data to reconstruct the DTI without doing any signal averaging (no-avg). To compare these three approaches, in this study, in vivo DTI data were collected from five normal mice. Noisy data with signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) that varied between five and 30 (before averaging) were then simulated. The DTI indices, including relative anisotropy (RA), trace of diffusion tensor (TR), axial diffusivity (λ║), and radial diffusivity (λ ⊥), derived from the k-avg, m-avg, and no-avg, were then compared in the corpus callosum white matter, cortex gray matter, and the ventricles. We found that k-avg and m-avg enhanced the SNR of DWI with no significant differences. However, k-avg produced lower RA in the white matter and higher RA in the gray matter, compared to the m-avg and no-avg, regardless of SNR. The latter two produced similar DTI quantifications. We concluded that k-avg is less preferred for DTI brain imaging.     

Spectrally-Presaturated Modulation (SPM): An efficient fat suppression technique for STEAM-based cardiac imaging sequences

Stimulated-echo acquisition mode (STEAM) is a key pulse sequences in MRI in general, and in cardiac imaging in particular. Fat suppression is an important feature in cardiac imaging to improve visualization and eliminate off-resonance and chemical-shift artifacts. Nevertheless, fat suppression comes at the expense of reduced temporal resolution and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The purpose of this study is to develop an efficient fat suppression method (Spectrally-Presaturated Modulation) for STEAM-based sequences to enable imaging with high temporal-resolution, high SNR, and no increase in scan time. The developed method is based on saturating the fat magnetization prior to applying STEAM modulation; therefore, only the water-content of the tissues is modulated by the sequence, resulting in fat-suppressed images without the need to run the fat suppression module during image acquisition. The potential significance of the proposed method is presented in two STEAM-based cardiac MRI applications: complementary spatial-modulation of magnetization (CSPAMM), and black-blood cine imaging. Phantom and in vivo experiments are conducted to evaluate the developed technique and compare it to the commonly implemented chemical-shift selective (CHESS) and water-excitation using spectral-spatial selective pulses (SSSP) fat suppression techniques. The results from the phantom and in vivo experiments show superior performance of the proposed method compared to the CHESS and SSSP techniques in terms of temporal resolution and SNR. In conclusion, the developed fat suppression technique results in enhanced image quality of STEAM-based images, especially in cardiac applications, where high temporal-resolution is imperative for accurate measurement of functional parameters and improved performance of image analysis algorithms.     

Automated phase correction via maximization of the real signal

Due to improved quantification capabilities and enhanced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), phase-corrected real reconstruction in magnetic resonance imaging is superior to the common magnitude reconstruction, especially at low SNR. This requires the development of an automated phase-correction algorithm. Existing methods are not well suited for multiple unconnected regions of very low SNR. For this situation, a method based on the real-signal maximization is implemented, in which the experimental image phase is approximated by a three-dimensional polynomial of up to third order. The presented implementation was successfully applied to data originating from different samples and pulse sequences.