Enhancing the spatial resolution of time-of-flight based non-line-of-sight imaging via instrument response function deconvolution

Abstract

Non-line-of-sight (NLOS) imaging retrieves the hidden scenes by utilizing the signals indirectly reflected by the relay wall. Benefiting from the picosecond-level timing accuracy, time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) based NLOS imaging can achieve theoretical spatial resolutions up to millimeter level. However, in practical applications, the total temporal resolution (also known as total time jitter, TTJ) of most current TCSPC systems exceeds hundreds of picoseconds due to the combined effects of multiple electronic devices, which restricts the underlying spatial resolution of NLOS imaging. In this paper, an instrument response function deconvolution (IRF-DC) method is proposed to overcome the constraints of a TCSPC system’s TTJ on the spatial resolution of NLOS imaging. Specifically, we model the transient measurements as Poisson convolution process with the normalized IRF as convolution kernel, and solve the inverse problem with iterative deconvolution algorithm, which significantly improves the spatial resolution of NLOS imaging after reconstruction. Numerical simulations show that the IRF-DC facilitates light-cone transform and frequency-wavenumber migration solver to achieve successful reconstruction even when the system’s TTJ reaches 1200 ps, which is equivalent to what was previously possible when TTJ was about 200 ps. In addition, the IRF-DC produces satisfactory reconstruction outcomes when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is low. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the proposed method has also been experimentally verified. The proposed IRF-DC method is highly applicable and efficient, which may promote the development of high-resolution NLOS imaging.