Systems and methods for imaging using reconfigurable particle assemblies

An imaging system comprising:

• a scattering assembly, the scattering assembly comprising:
• a scattering medium positioned a first distance from an object to be imaged, the scattering medium comprising a plurality of particles suspended in a suspension medium;
• and
• at least one field source generating an electromagnetic field to manipulate the plurality of particles;
• a detector comprising a plurality of detector elements positioned a second distance from the scattering medium;
• an image processing system configured to reconstruct an image of the object from an object image signal generated by the detector using object light scattered by the scattering medium and incident on the detector,
• wherein the plurality of particles comprises a plurality of nanowires, each of the nanowires comprising a wire axis, a length in a direction of the wire axis, and a diameter, the diameter being less than the length.

An imaging system comprising:

• a scattering assembly, the scattering assembly comprising:
• a scattering medium positioned a first distance from an object to be imaged, the scattering medium comprising a plurality of particles suspended in a suspension medium;
• and
• at least one field source generating an electromagnetic field to manipulate the plurality of particles;
• a detector comprising a plurality of detector elements positioned a second distance from the scattering medium;
• an image processing system configured to reconstruct an image of the object from an object image signal generated by the detector using object light scattered by the scattering medium and incident on the detector,
• wherein the image processing system is configured to reconstruct the image of the object from a plurality of object image signal-point source image signal pairs using a multi-shot reconstruction method, at least two of the plurality of object image signal-point source image signal pairs being generated with the scattering assembly being in a different scattering medium configuration.

An imaging system comprising:

• a scattering assembly, the scattering assembly comprising:
• a scattering medium positioned a first distance from an object to be imaged, the scattering medium comprising a plurality of particles suspended in a suspension medium;
• and
• at least one field source generating an electromagnetic field to manipulate the plurality of particles;
• a detector comprising a plurality of detector elements positioned a second distance from the scattering medium;
• an image processing system configured to reconstruct an image of the object from an object image signal generated by the detector using object light scattered by the scattering medium and incident on the detector;
• and
• an imaging optical element mapping the object light onto the detector, the imaging optical element being disposed between the detector and the object along a light propagation direction.

An imaging system comprising:

• a scattering assembly, the scattering assembly comprising:
• a scattering medium positioned a first distance from an object to be imaged, the scattering medium comprising a plurality of particles suspended in a suspension medium;
• and
• at least one field source generating an electromagnetic field to manipulate the plurality of particles;
• a detector comprising a plurality of detector elements positioned a second distance from the scattering medium;
• an image processing system configured to reconstruct an image of the object from an object image signal generated by the detector using object light scattered by the scattering medium and incident on the detector,
• wherein:
• the detector and the object are both disposed on a first side of the scattering assembly, and
• object light scattered by the scattering medium backscatters off the scattering medium towards the detector.

A method of generating an image of an object, the method comprising:

• placing the object within a field of view of an imaging system, the imaging system comprising:
• a scattering assembly comprising a scattering medium in a first scattering medium configuration, the scattering medium positioned a first distance from the object along a light propagation direction, the scattering medium comprising a plurality of particles suspended in a suspension medium and at least one field source;
• and
• a detector, the detector positioned a second distance from the scattering medium along the light propagation direction, the detector comprising a plurality of detector elements, and
• an illumination optical system, the illumination optical system comprising:
• an object subsystem having the object positioned therein;
• a point illumination subsystem comprising a point illumination light source emitting the point illumination light;
• and
• an optical element combining the object subsystem and the point illumination subsystem,
• wherein:
• the object light from the object propagates through the object subsystem to a location on the optical element and the point illumination light propagates through the point illumination subsystem to the location on the optical element, and
• the location is separated from the scattering assembly by the first distance in the light propagation direction;
• scattering object light from the object in the scattering medium while the scattering medium is in the first scattering medium configuration;
• measuring the scattered object light with the detector to generate a first object image signal;
• illuminating the scattering assembly with point illumination light from a point illumination source while the scattering medium is in the first scattering medium configuration;
• measuring scattered point illumination light with the detector to generate a first point source image signal, wherein the first object image signal and the first point source image signal form a first object image signal-point source image signal pair;
• and
• reconstructing the image of the object using the first object image signal with the first point source image signal.

A method of generating an image of an object, the method comprising:

• placing the object within a field of view of an imaging system, the imaging system comprising:
• a scattering assembly comprising a scattering medium positioned a first distance from the object along a light propagation direction, the scattering medium comprising a plurality of particles suspended in a suspension medium;
• and
• a detector, the detector positioned a second distance from the scattering medium along the light propagation direction, the detector comprising a plurality of detector elements, and
• an illumination optical system, the illumination optical system comprising:
• an object subsystem having the object positioned therein;
• a point illumination subsystem comprising a point illumination light source emitting the point illumination light;
• and
• an optical element combining the object subsystem and the point illumination subsystem,
• wherein:
• the object light from the object propagates through the object subsystem to a location on the optical element and the point illumination light propagates through the point illumination subsystem to the location on the optical element, and
• the location is separated from the scattering assembly by the first distance in the light propagation direction;
• scattering object light from the object in the scattering medium while the scattering medium is in a plurality of different scattering medium configurations and measuring scattered object light from each of the scattering medium configurations to generate a plurality of object image signals;
• with the scattering medium in each of the plurality of different scattering medium configurations, illuminating the scattering assembly with point illumination light from a point illumination source to generate a plurality of point source image signals;
• and
• reconstructing the image of the object from the plurality of object image signals and the plurality of point source image signals using a multi-shot method.