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Empirical study of coded-aperture imaging

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:5280005

The purpose of any tomographic instrument is to present images of a section of tissue or of a distribution of radioactivity at a given depth in the human body. In this work, Coded-Aperture Imaging (CAI) is used to acquire those images. In CAI, a single view of the area of interest is taken using a Coded-Aperture to produce a coded image. When this image is properly decoded, the result is a series of images, each with a different plane of the object in focus. In this work, a set of non-Redundant Pinhole Array (NrPA) apertures was built and tested using a lateral, planar source, a vertical, planar source, and a three-dimensional source. A figure of merit was developed that involve the total number of counts in an image, the total radiation exposure, and the resolution of the image. This figure of merit was determined for each aperture at each of eight source-to-aperture distances and at each of three aperture-to-detector distances. Based on this analysis, the best aperture was the six-pinhole aperture having 6.5-mm-diameter pinholes. In addition, it was found that the camera's inherent resolution predominated over all other factors in the system's resolution.

Research Organization:
Cincinnati Univ., OH (USA)
OSTI ID:
5280005
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English