Tutorial on compressed ultrafast photography

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Biomedical Imaging
• Computational Imaging

Background:

• Compressed Ultrafast Photography (CUP) represents a significant advancement in single-shot imaging technology.
• CUP integrates compressed sensing with streak imaging to achieve extremely high frame rates.

Approach:

• This tutorial provides a comprehensive review of CUP, covering fundamental methods, system implementations, and biomedical applications.
• It includes step-by-step guidelines for CUP's forward model and image reconstruction algorithms, with sample codes in Matlab and Python.
• Hardware implementation details, including key components and their limitations, are also discussed.

Key Points:

• CUP achieves imaging speeds from thousands to trillions of frames per second with micrometer-level spatial resolution.
• The technique enables broad spectral range sensing for capturing transient events in a single exposure.
• Sample codes and illustrations are provided for understanding CUP's forward model and reconstruction algorithms.

Conclusions:

• CUP is a state-of-the-art ultrafast imaging technology with advanced capabilities and versatility.
• Its application in biomedicine facilitates unprecedented observations and novel research avenues.
• Future prospects include technical enhancements and broader adoption in investigating complex biomedical processes.