Single-Photon Avalanche Diode Imagers Applied to Near-Infrared Imaging

Single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) can be integrated into large pixel arrays. The aim of this paper is to present a view on how these imagers change the paradigm of wide-field near-infrared imaging (NIRI). Thanks to the large number of pixels that they offer and to their advanced time-resolved measurement capabilities, new approaches in the image reconstruction can be applied. A SPAD imager was integrated in a NIRI setup to demonstrate how it can improve spatial resolution in reconstructed images. The SPAD imager has a time resolution of 97 ps and a picosecond laser source with an average output power of 3 mW was employed. The large amount of data produced by this new setup could not directly be analyzed with state-of-the art image reconstruction algorithms. Therefore a new theoretical framework was developed. Simulations show that millimetric resolution is achievable with this setup. Experimental results have demonstrated that a resolution of at least 5 mm is possible with the current setup. A discussion about how different characteristics of the SPAD imagers affect the NIRI measurements is presented and possible future improvements are introduced.

[1]  Vadim A. Markel,et al.  Symmetries, inversion formulas, and image reconstruction for optical tomography. , 2004, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[2]  P.-A. Besse,et al.  Single photon detector fabricated in a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor high-voltage technology , 2003 .

[3]  Edoardo Charbon,et al.  A 160×128 single-photon image sensor with on-pixel 55ps 10b time-to-digital converter , 2011, 2011 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference.

[4]  L. O. Svaasand,et al.  Boundary conditions for the diffusion equation in radiative transfer. , 1994, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision.

[5]  Edoardo Charbon,et al.  3D near-infrared imaging based on a single-photon avalanche diode array sensor: A new perspective on reconstruction algorithms , 2012 .

[6]  David A Boas,et al.  Linear 3D reconstruction of time-domain diffuse optical imaging differential data: improved depth localization and lateral resolution. , 2007, Optics express.

[7]  B. Wilson,et al.  Time resolved reflectance and transmittance for the non-invasive measurement of tissue optical properties. , 1989, Applied optics.

[8]  S. Arridge,et al.  Optical tomography: forward and inverse problems , 2009, 0907.2586.

[9]  Davide Contini,et al.  Time-resolved diffuse reflectance using small source-detector separation and fast single-photon gating. , 2008, Physical review letters.

[10]  Anthony J. Durkin,et al.  Quantitative optical tomography of sub-surface heterogeneities using spatially modulated structured light. , 2009, Optics express.

[11]  Vasilis Ntziachristos,et al.  From finite to infinite volumes: removal of boundaries in diffuse wave imaging. , 2006, Physical review letters.

[12]  Edoardo Charbon,et al.  A 128x128 Single-Photon Imager with on-Chip Column-Level 97ps 10bit Time-to-Digital-Converter Array , 2008, ISSCC 2008.

[13]  Davide Contini,et al.  Afterpulse-like noise limits dynamic range in time-gated applications of thin-junction silicon single-photon avalanche diode , 2012 .

[14]  David Abookasis,et al.  Imaging cortical absorption, scattering, and hemodynamic response during ischemic stroke using spatially modulated near-infrared illumination. , 2009, Journal of biomedical optics.

[15]  E. Gratton,et al.  Frequency-domain multichannel optical detector for noninvasive tissue spectroscopy and oximetry , 1995 .

[16]  P. Hansen,et al.  Subspace Preconditioned LSQR for Discrete Ill-Posed Problems , 2003 .

[17]  Vadim A. Markel,et al.  Optical tomography with structured illumination. , 2009, Optics letters.

[18]  Edoardo Charbon,et al.  Measurement and modeling of microlenses fabricated on single-photon avalanche diode arrays for fill factor recovery. , 2014, Optics express.

[19]  Vadim A. Markel,et al.  Imaging complex structures with diffuse light. , 2008, Optics express.

[20]  E. Charbon,et al.  A 4 X 4 X 416 digital SiPM array with 192 TDCs for multiple high-resolution timestamp acquisition , 2013 .

[21]  Vadim A. Markel,et al.  Inverse problem in optical diffusion tomography. I. Fourier-Laplace inversion formulas. , 2001, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision.

[22]  Edoardo Charbon,et al.  3D Near-Infrared Imaging Based on a Single-Photon Avalanche Diode Array Sensor , 2011 .

[23]  Edoardo Charbon,et al.  SPAD Sensors Come of Age , 2010 .

[24]  M. Schweiger,et al.  A finite element approach for modeling photon transport in tissue. , 1993, Medical physics.

[25]  Hamid Dehghani,et al.  Near infrared optical tomography using NIRFAST: Algorithm for numerical model and image reconstruction. , 2009, Communications in numerical methods in engineering.

[26]  David A Boas,et al.  Monte Carlo simulation of photon migration in 3D turbid media accelerated by graphics processing units. , 2009, Optics express.

[27]  M. A. O'Leary,et al.  Imaging with diffuse photon density waves , 1996 .