Comparative analysis of signal-to-noise ratio in correlation plenoptic imaging architectures

TL;DR

This paper provides a theoretical comparison of signal-to-noise ratios in correlation plenoptic imaging and its microscopy extension, explaining why CLM offers improved noise performance over CPI.

Contribution

It offers a theoretical analysis of the noise and background ratios, clarifying the advantages of CLM over CPI in optical imaging.

Findings

CLM has significantly better noise performance than CPI.

Theoretical foundation explains the improved image quality in CLM.

Analysis supports faster acquisition and clearer images in CLM.

Abstract

Correlation plenoptic imaging (CPI) is a scanning-free diffraction-limited 3D optical imaging technique exploiting the peculiar properties of correlated light sources. CPI has been further extended to samples of interest to microscopy, such as fluorescent or scattering objects, in a modified architecture named correlation light-field microscopy (CLM). Interestingly, experiments have shown that the noise performances of CLM are significantly improved over the original CPI scheme, leading to better images and faster acquisition. In this work, we provide a theoretical foundation to such advantage by investigating the properties of both the signal-to-noise and the signal-to-background ratios of CLM and the original CPI setup.