Patent ID: 8831316

Claim:
A method for resolving and identifying diffraction limited point source objects in an image, the method comprising the steps of: (a) picking an object in an image; (b) computing coefficients of decomposition of a point-spread function of said object(s) on a an orthogonal basis of functions; (c) formulating two competing hypotheses, wherein the first hypothesis states that the object represents a single point-source, and the second hypothesis states that the object represents a pair of proximate point-sources; (d) for two competing hypotheses, equating the coefficients of decomposition of step (b) with the coefficients of decomposition derived analytically from the Gaussian models of the two hypotheses; (e) solving each of the two sets of equations in close terms for intensity and position of the point sources; (f) calculating residual light; (g) selecting the hypothesis with minimal residual light.