We are creating some awesome events for you. Kindly bear with us.

Scientists at NTU Singapore develop lensless imaging technology

Scientists at NTU Singapore develop lensless imaging technology

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
(NTU) have developed
a new camera technology that can take sharp, colour images without using a lens
and colour filters.

A conventional camera utilises optics made from glass or
plastic lenses to capture light and guide it onto colour filters and camera
sensor in order to obtain sharp colour images. These lenses are usually bulky
in size and expensive due to the precision manufacturing required.

The scientists created multi-coloured images by using only a
piece of ground glass and a monochrome (black and white) sensor and ‘reverse
engineering’ the light that is scattered by the translucent matt surface of the
ground glass. Since different wavelengths of light are scattered differently by
the ground glass, an algorithm was created to reconstruct the original image
that was projected on to the ground glass.

The scientists created a library of ‘speckle patterns’
linked to each wavelength of light, including those in the infrared and
ultraviolet spectrums which are not visible to the naked eye. 

Professor Yoon Soon
Fatt, Chair of NTU’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, noted
that the innovation was the result of interdisciplinary research involving both
physics and photonics engineering.

“How light interacts with objects change with varying
wavelengths, so our scientists had to think out of the box, in order to design
a camera not limited by the typical red, green and blue spectrums. This
research is an example of how advanced photonics research can lead to potential
improvements to diagnostics, sensing and surveillance technologies,” Prof Yoon
said.

The project was led
by Assistant Professor Steve Cuong Dang from the NTU School of Electrical and Electronic Engineeringand it took himand his researchers, Dr Sujit Kumar Sahoo, and Dr Tang Dongliang, over a year of research and development.

Applications

By removing the need for a lens and colour filters and
replacing them with ground glass, this innovation could potentially make
compact cameras and smart phones slimmer.

This is also much more cost-effective compared to existing
multispectral cameras on the market.

In addition, this new imaging technique could also help to
improve imaging applications in biomedical and scientific applications, as the technology
can reconstruct images in other multiple wavelengths invisible to the naked
eye, like infrared and ultraviolet. These are used for imaging purposes in
medicine, surveillance and astrophysics. The technology can also reconstruct
images taken at the microscopic scale.

Assistant Professor Dang said,
“The unique feature of our camera is that it can capture any range of light
spectrum, unlike existing cameras on the market which are pre-fixed. It is also
less affected by optical alignment issues like conventional cameras, because
there are no moving parts and no focusing optics.”

This camera could also be used in areas like food safety, where
one can take a photo of fruits or meat in particular spectra to look for spots
that are associated with chemicals or bacterial activity leading to spoilage.

For instance, the research team used their technique to
distinguish between two different apple juices which look identical to the
naked eye but have different colour spectrums signalling their difference in
ingredient or freshness.

It could also be used in forensics, as the camera could be
tuned to capture a wide spectrum, including near infrared and ultraviolet, to
reveal clues or evidence invisible under normal circumstances.

A patent has been filed for this new technology by NTU’s
innovation and enterprise arm, NTUitive.

Supported by NTUitive and the LUX Photonics Consortium, the
team received keen interest from industry players and potential adopters to
further develop this technology in the fields of vision correction and chemical
sensing. The research team plans to engage industry partners to explore adaptation
of their technology for real-world applications.

This innovation was featured on the cover of the scientific
journal, Optica, in Oct 2017.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

PARTNER

CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

PARTNER

Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

PARTNER

HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

PARTNER

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

Send this to a friend