On the "unreasonable" effectiveness of Transport of Intensity imaging and optical deconvolution

TL;DR

This paper explains why Transport of Intensity imaging is highly effective, showing it enhances signal-to-noise ratio at low doses, and suggests new imaging methods that maintain resolution with minimal radiation exposure.

Contribution

It provides an analysis of noise propagation in Transport of Intensity imaging, revealing its advantages and guiding the design of improved low-dose imaging techniques.

Findings

Transport of Intensity imaging significantly increases signal-to-noise ratio.

Analysis of noise propagation explains the effectiveness of TII.

Potential for designing new low-dose, high-resolution imaging methods.

Abstract

The effectiveness of reconstructive imaging using the Homogeneous Transport of Intensity equation may be regarded as "unreasonable", because it has been shown to significantly increase signal-to-noise ratio while preserving spatial resolution, compared to equivalent conventional absorption-based imaging techniques at the same photon fluence. We reconcile this surprising behaviour by analysing the propagation of noise in typical in-line holography experiments. This analysis indicates that novel imaging techniques may be designed which produce high signal-to-noise images at low radiation doses without sacrificing spatial resolution.