X-ray three-dimensional imaging based on light field imaging technology
Authors: Qi Jun-Cheng , Liu Bin , Chen Rong-Chang , Xia Zheng-De , Xiao Ti-Qiao ,   School of Information and Communication Engineering, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China,   Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, China
Published: December 2020

X-ray three-dimensional (3D) imaging technology is a research hotspot in the field of X-ray imaging. However, for some special imaging targets, the imaging mode of the traditional computer tomography (CT) circular trajectory is prone to lack of projection information, and thus affects the quality of CT reconstruction images, which limites the application of CT imaging. Light field imaging technology, in which a microlens array is inserted between the sensor and main lens in a traditional camera, achieves four-dimensional (4D) light field data with sensor during imaging including both the two-dimensional (2D) directional information of the radiance propagation and 2D spatial distribution information of object radiation. Through computer calculation imaging, 3D imaging such as digital refocusing, slice in the depth direction, stereo imaging, and depth estimation is realized. This article focuses on the 3D X-ray imaging based on the theory of light field imaging in visible light. Based on the model of parallel X-ray of synchrotron radiation source, the data of the X-ray light field with many projection views are acquired by rotating the image sample. Then, the light passing through any voxel in the imaging target is acquired by a geometric projection method, and based on integral imaging theory of light field imaging, the gray value of the slice in depth dimension is reconstructed and the depth information of reconstructed target is acquired. The reconstruction results show that this method can be used to reconstruct the internal slices at any depth in any viewing direction of the imaging target. In the optical imaging, the scene beyond the depth of field is blurred, making the scene more prominent and the imaging effect better. However, for the X-ray imaging, the imaging mode that is completely transmissive, and the light passing through the foreground carry the information about the background. In the refocusing process, the object at the refocusing depth is focused, and other background information is defocused. Excessive background information overwhelms the real useful information, and makes the slice, especially the edge of the image, blurred. Consequently more severe background noise is introduced due to the defocusing phenomenon in the optical refocusing process. Referring to the reconstruction method of the X-ray 3D imaging and light field imaging, the S-L filter is applied to the original data in the article. After filtering the original data, the X-ray "light field refocusing" is processed. The reconstruction results shown that the method can effectively eliminate reconstruction artifacts and improve image reconstruction quality in the reconstruction depth slice. And in this paper, the light field data are collected by rotating the sample with low time resolution. For the fast imaging, according to the digital refocusing theory of the light field imaging, the array X-ray source and detector can be used. After being calibrated, the system can realize the 3D reconstruction of the light field of the target field with high time resolution. This research has not only the theoretical significance in algorithm, but also great application value in the rapid detection of more complicated targets such as industry and medical treatment.