(Press-News.org) Underwater imaging plays a critical role in many fields such as marine exploration, oceanographic engineering, environmental protection and identifying dangerous objects on the ocean floor. However, in turbid or turbulent waters, image quality is often severely degraded due to the complexities of the underwater environment and equipment limitations.
Underwater captured images often suffer from contrast loss because light is scattered and absorbed as it travels in water, resulting in major degradation of detail and distorted or blurred images.
A new invention about the size of a soda can is a potential gamechanger in advanced underwater imaging technology. Bing Ouyang, Ph.D., an associate research professor at Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, and colleagues, have received a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for this innovation designed to overcome current technical issues related to underwater imaging.
The compact device performs active imaging of underwater objects, and the entire system is encapsulated within the small container. Because of its small size, it mounts easily on different types of undersea vehicles. Moreover, the invention overcomes issues related to contrast loss and blurring and the dispersal of light that occurs underwater. The device also can be used to assist divers during deep diving exercises, inspections of the underside of sea vessels and underwater robotic operations.
“Advances in underwater imaging technologies and techniques are the focus of ongoing efforts by both governments and private enterprises,” said Ouyang. “The ability to identify and detect dangerous objects such as explosive devices on ocean floors are imperative to protect both humans and seafaring vessels. This invention will increase advanced underwater imaging techniques and equip underwater unmanned vehicles with the capability of identifying and extracting or neutralizing threatening underwater objects or devices. Importantly, the greatest benefit gained by this device is its ability to provide this advanced underwater imaging and processing capability in a very compact form-factor.”
The methodology used by the invention consists of generating a sequence of coded illumination patterns coupled with a laser to light up the target. Such illumination patterns can be generated from a spatial light modulator acting on a laser beam. A high dynamic range commercially available camera records the sequence of images of the spatially, light modulated target.
Included in the post-processing steps is the multi-frame based backscattering mitigation and noise reduction through the combination of non-local mean filtering and total-variation filtering. This tight integration of hardware and processing helps to achieve the highest degree of image contrast enhancement while simultaneously capturing details of low reflectance objects of interest.
“This new patent is a testament to the incredible ideas and steadfast determination of our faculty and researchers at FAU Harbor Branch,” said James Sullivan, Ph.D., executive director, FAU Harbor Branch. “Dr. Ouyang’s work on this patent demonstrates his unique ability to bring innovative thoughts to fruition and ultimately to commercialization while addressing a critical societal need to protect people and property.”
Co-inventors on the patent are Fraser Dalgleish, Ph.D., a senior scientist with L3Harris Technologies, and Frank Michael Caimi, Ph.D., chief scientist with SkyCross, Inc.
- FAU -
About Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute:
Founded in 1971, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University is a research community of marine scientists, engineers, educators and other professionals focused on Ocean Science for a Better World. The institute drives innovation in ocean engineering, at-sea operations, drug discovery and biotechnology from the oceans, coastal ecology and conservation, marine mammal research and conservation, aquaculture, ocean observing systems and marine education. For more information, visit www.fau.edu/hboi.
About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students across six campuses located along the southeast Florida coast. In recent years, the University has doubled its research expenditures and outpaced its peers in student achievement rates. Through the coexistence of access and excellence, FAU embodies an innovative model where traditional achievement gaps vanish. FAU is designated a Hispanic-serving institution, ranked as a top public university by U.S. News & World Report and a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Using artificial intelligence applications to help craft a message to a friend is not a good idea – at least if your friend finds out about the use of AI, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that people in the study perceived that a fictional friend who used AI assistance to write them a message didn’t put forth as much effort as a friend who wrote a message themselves.
That perception may be understandable, but the effect goes beyond the message itself, said Bingjie Liu, lead author of the study and assistant professor of communication at The Ohio State University.
“After ...
About The Study: In this dose-response meta-analysis that included nine randomized clinical trials and 2,980 patients, compared with placebo, gefapixant (45 mg orally twice daily) led to modest improvements in cough frequency, cough severity, and cough-specific quality of life but increased taste-related adverse events.
Authors: Imran Satia, M.D., Ph.D., of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jama.2023.18035)
Editor’s Note: Please ...
RICHLAND, Wash. – In a set of sharing experiments, Spanish-speaking Latino preschoolers were more likely to choose options that would be more generous to others, even over a more equal sharing choice.
Their English-speaking peers in the Washington State University study more often chose the most competitive option, one that advantaged themselves over others. The most competitive among that group were English-speaking Latino children, a finding that the researchers believe may reflect their desire to transition ...
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A new study, published in the journal Molecular Ecology, presents genomic evidence of hybridization between two closely related species of sea stars– Asterias rubens, the common starfish, and Asterias forbesi, known as Forbes’ sea ...
Clinicians treating cancer-related pain must consider whether and how to prescribe opioids to patients who use nonmedical stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamines; however, no guidelines exist related to these common and challenging situations. In a new study, palliative care and addiction experts deemed it appropriate to continue opioids, increase monitoring, and avoid opioid tapering in such patients. The results are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.
Using opioids and nonmedical stimulants ...
Sorghum bran has much higher levels of some essential amino acids and minerals needed for human health and development than a whole grain or dehulled sorghum flour, researchers from the University of Johannesburg have found.
Sorghum bran packs a calcium, magnesium, leucine and valine punch much higher than the whole grain flour. The climate-resilient gluten-free grain also holds its own on macro – and micronutrients compared to the biggest grains produced worldwide.
Dr Janet Adebo and Dr Hema Kesa investigated and compared the nutritional quality and functional properties of the different ...
1.Background and objectives
The Ministry of the Environment of Japan, the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are jointly promoting the GOSAT series, a series of Earth observation satellites whose main purpose is to observe greenhouse gases from space; the Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT) launched in January 2009 and GOSAT-2 launched in October 2018 are currently in operation, and the Global Observing SATellite for Greenhouse gases and Water cycle (GOSAT-GW) is planned to be launched in Japan’s FY2024. NIES is responsible for developing ...
Annual hospital admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Canada increased 69% since 2002, especially in females and people under age 65, according to new research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.221051.
COPD affects the lungs and progresses, resulting in frequent hospitalization, burdening patients, families and health care systems. It has been viewed as a condition usually associated with male smokers.
"With increasing ...
Using laser light, researchers have developed the most robust method currently known to control individual qubits made of the chemical element barium. The ability to reliably control a qubit is an important achievement for realizing future functional quantum computers.
This new method, developed at the University of Waterloo’s Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC), uses a small glass waveguide to separate laser beams and focus them four microns apart, about four-hundredths of the width of a single human hair. The precision and extent to which each focused laser beam on its target qubit can be controlled in parallel ...
(Singapore – 10:05 a.m. SGT--September 11, 2023) – Osimertinib plus chemotherapy demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful progression-free survival benefit compared to osimertinib alone, according to research presented today at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer in Singapore.
The FLAURA2 study was led by Dr. Pasi A. Jänne from the Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Mass.
Osimertinib, a potent third-generation EGFR-TKI with central nervous system activity, has garnered attention for its targeted ...
