Blind deconvolution of quantum-limited incoherent imagery: maximum-likelihood approach

Previous research presented by the author and others into maximum-likelihood image restoration for incoherent imagery is extended to consider problems of blind deconvolution in which the impulse response of the system is assumed to be unknown. Potential applications that motivate this study are wide-field and confocal fluorescence microscopy, although applications in astronomy and infrared imaging are foreseen as well. The methodology incorporates the iterative expectation-maximization algorithm. Although the precise impulse response is assumed to be unknown, some prior knowledge about characteristics of the impulse response is used. In preliminary simulation studies that are presented, the circular symmetry and the band-limited nature of the impulse response are used as such. These simulations demonstrate the potential utility and present limitations of these methods.