California Institute of Technology

Emilio C Graff

Morteza Gharib

Francisco Pereira

Jian Lu

James Kent Wallace

Stephanie Rider

Eugene Serabyn

Christian A Lindensmith

Kurt M Liewer

Michele Milano

A lens-less digital holographic microscope, a reflective digital holographic microscope, and a digital holographic microscope including a plurality of lenses. In one example, the digital holographic microscope includes a single mode fiber collimated light source which provides illumination for both the 'science' and 'reference' arms, a pair of microscope objectives located side-by side, and illuminated by the common beam, a relay lens whose center is between the two objectives, and a focal plane element where the interference pattern is measured.

Common-mode digital holographic microscope

A device and method for three-dimensional (3-D) imaging using a defocusing technique is disclosed. The device comprises a lens, a central aperture located along an optical axis for projecting an entire image of a target object, at least one defocusing aperture located off of the optical axis, a sensor operable for capturing electromagnetic radiation transmitted from an object through the lens and the central aperture and the at least one defocusing aperture, and a processor communicatively connected with the sensor for processing the sensor information and producing a 3-D image of the object. Different optical filters can be used for the central aperture and the defocusing apertures respectively, whereby a background image produced by the central aperture can be easily distinguished from defocused images produced by the defocusing apertures.

Single-lens, single-sensor 3-D imaging device with a central aperture for obtaining camera position

Described is a method and apparatus for obtaining additional information from an object and a method for surface imaging and three-dimensional imaging. Single lens, single aperture, single sensor system and stereo optic systems may be modified in order to successfully generate surface maps of objects or three-dimensional representations of target objects. A variety of the aspects of the present invention provide examples of the use of an addressable pattern in order to overcome mismatching common to standard defocusing techniques.

Method and apparatus for quantitative 3-D imaging

A device and method for three-dimensional (3-D) imaging using a defocusing technique is disclosed. The device comprises a lens, at least one polarization-coded aperture obstructing the lens, a polarization-sensitive sensor operable for capturing electromagnetic radiation transmitted from an object through the lens and the at least one polarization-coded aperture, and a processor communicatively connected with the sensor for processing the sensor information and producing a 3-D image of the object.

Single-lens 3-D imaging device using polarization coded aperture masks combined with polarization sensitive sensor

Described is a method and system for fast three-dimensional imaging using defocusing and feature recognition is disclosed. The method comprises acts of capturing a plurality of defocused images of an object on a sensor, identifying segments of interest in each of the plurality of images using a feature recognition algorithm, and matching the segments with three-dimensional coordinates according to the positions of the images of the segments on the sensor to produce a three-dimensional position of each segment of interest. The disclosed imaging method is 'aware' in that it uses a priori knowledge of a small number of object features to reduce computation time as compared with 'dumb' methods known in the art which exhaustively calculate positions of a large number of marker points.

Method and system for fast three-dimensional imaging using defocusing and feature recognition

A device and method for three-dimensional (3-D) imaging using a defocusing technique is disclosed. The device comprises a lens having a substantially oblong aperture, a sensor operable for capturing light transmitted from an object through the lens and the substantially oblong aperture, and a processor communicatively connected with the sensor for processing the sensor information and producing a 3-D image of the object. The aperture may have an asymmetrical shape for distinguishing objects in front of versus in back of the focal plane. The aperture may also be rotatable, where the orientation of the observed pattern relative to the oblong aperture is varied with time thereby removing the ambiguity generated by image overlap. The disclosed device further comprises a light projection system configured to project a predetermined pattern onto a surface of the desired object thereby allowing for mapping of unmarked surfaces in three dimensions.

Single-lens, single-aperture, single-sensor 3-D imaging device

Single-lens 3-D imaging device using a polarization-coded aperture masks combined with a polarization-sensitive sensor

Described is a method and apparatus for obtaining additional information from an object and a method for surface imaging and three-dimensional imaging. Single lens, single aperture, single sensor system and stereo optic systems are enhanced via selective filtering, use of defocusing information, use of an addressable pattern, image matching, and combinations thereof.

Determining instantaneously three-dimensional coordinates of large sets of points in space using apertures associated with cameras or camera parts. An embodiment associates information from the apertures with different portions of the imager, so that portions on the imager do not overlap.

Growing community of inventors

Burlingame, CA, United States of America

Emilio C Graff