Claims
- 1. An optical system for processing a medical image comprising:
an input image; a light source emitting light directed at the input image; a first optical Fourier element than transforms light from the input image; a spatial filter that filters the transformed light; a second optical Fourier element that receives the filtered transformed light and generates an inverse transform to provide a processed image; and an image sensor that detects the processed image and generates an electronic representation of the processed image.
- 2. The optical system of claim 1, wherein the input image comprises a two-dimensional image generated by a medical imaging method.
- 3. The optical system of claim 2, wherein the input image is a mammogram.
- 4. The optical system of claim 2, wherein the input image is an image of a Pap smear.
- 5. The optical system of claim 1, wherein the input image is generated by at least one of an x-ray, magnetic resonance, computerized axial tomography and ultrasound imaging method.
- 6. The optical system of claim 1, wherein the light source comprises a laser.
- 7. The optical system of claim 6, wherein the laser comprises a diode pumped laser.
- 8. The optical system of claim 1, wherein the first and second optical Fourier elements are lenses.
- 9. The optical system of claim 1, wherein the light source emits in a wavelength range of approximately 300 to 800 nm.
- 10. The optical system of claim 1, wherein the image sensor comprises a charge coupled device (CCD).
- 11. The optical system of claim 1, further comprising a controller that is electronically connected to the image sensor, the controller actuating readout of the electronic representation from the image sensor.
- 12. The system of claim 11, further comprising a-processor electrically coupled to the controller, an image storage device and a display device.
- 13. The optical system of claim 6, wherein the laser emits light having an intensity of approximately 1.5 milliwatt/cm2.
- 14. The optical system of claim 1, wherein the input image has a size of less than 10 cm2.
- 15. A method of processing an image using an optical Fourier system, comprising the steps of:
irradiating an input image with an input beam; focusing the input beam onto a focal plane of a first optical Fourier transformer and generating a Fourier spectrum; filtering the Fourier spectrum by applying at least one spatial filter to generate a filtered Fourier spectrum; generating a processed image by using an inverse optical Fourier transformer; and detecting the processed image.
- 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the input image comprises a two-dimensional image generated by a medical imaging method.
- 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the input image is a mammogram.
- 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the input image is an image of a Pap smear..
- 19. The method of claim 16, wherein the input image is generated by at least one of an x-ray, magnetic resonance, computerized axial tomography and ultrasound imaging method.
- 20. The method of claim 15, wherein the input beam is generated by a light source comprising a laser.
- 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the laser comprises a diode pumped laser.
- 22. The method of claim 15, wherein the first optical Fourier transformer and the inverse optical Fourier transformer are lenses.
- 23. The method of claim 15, further comprising a light source emitting the input beam in a wavelength range of approximately 300 to 800 nm.
- 24. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of detecting the processed image comprises using a charge coupled device (CCD) for an image sensor.
- 25. The method of claim 15, further comprising generating an electronic representation from the image sensor using a controller that is electronically connected to the image sensor.
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/418,065, filed Oct. 11, 2002. The entire contents of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
[0002] This invention was supported, in whole or in part, by a grant from the National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Health, Grant No. 1R21CA89673-01A1. The Government has certain rights in the invention.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60418065 |
Oct 2002 |
US |