Unlock the future of imaging! A groundbreaking technique promises to revolutionize how we visualize through dense materials, achieving stunning clarity without expensive equipment or prio...

Holography is a technique for recording information using wave interference. The most well-known type is optical holography, which uses light waves to create holograms—three-dimensional images. Unlike photography, holography captures not only the amplitude but also the phase of the light wave, allowing the image to be preserved in three dimensions.

Holography is utilized for working with highly scattering media, such as biological tissues and rocks, where many conventional visualization methods become ineffective.

A guide star is a reference point or light source used for calibrating a system and correcting distortions that occur when light passes through complex or scattering media. Without a guide star, the accuracy of visualization decreases. Furthermore, obtaining a holographic image typically requires the use of laser systems with precisely known parameters for illuminating the object.

A group of Israeli physicists, Ori Katz (Ori Katz), Omri Haim (Omri Haim), and Jeremy Boger-Lombard (Jeremy Boger-Lombard), introduced a new computational method for image construction based on holography. Their proposed technique enhances and simplifies optical visualization capabilities through dense media by computationally simulating experiments to control the wavefront.

The study presents an approach that does not require the use of guide stars (guide-star-free), eliminating the need for high-resolution spatial light modulators (SLM) and numerous measurements. This enables the acquisition of images through complex scattering media with unprecedented speed and accuracy.

The new technique allows for the simultaneous optimization of several “virtual SLMs,” which in turn enables the system to reconstruct quality images without the need for prior information about the object being imaged or the characteristics of the scattering.

The method offers high versatility and flexibility. The researchers were able to correct over 190,000 scattering modes—individual light propagation paths in the material—using just 25 holographically captured fields of scattered light obtained under randomly varying illumination conditions. The method can be applied to various types of visualization, including epi-illumination, multi-layer scattering correction, and endoscopy without the use of lenses.

This new approach in visualization technology enables the generation of high-resolution images through highly scattering media with significantly fewer measurements than current methods, without the need for prior information about the target or expensive equipment.

The researchers are confident that the method will find applications in various fields: biological tissue visualization, endoscopy using multi-core fiber optics, acousto-optical tomography, geophysics, radar, and medical ultrasound. The study has been published in the journal Nature Photonics.