Laser Speckle Phenomenon Research Articles

Evaluation of surface roughness of a machined metal surface based on laser speckle pattern

The surface roughness of a machined metal surface is crucial to its appearance and performance. There are hardly any in-situ methods for surface roughness measurement of moving surfaces. A study of the digital speckle patterns generated by rough surfaces illuminated by a laser is performed experimentally. Laser speckle phenomenon can be used to monitor the surface roughness in a non-contact way. By investigating the effect of the surface roughness on the statistical and fractal parameters of the laser speckle pattern, an assessment method for evaluating surface roughness is discussed. The results show that some of the proposed statistical parameters have definite relationships with the surface roughness and can be explored to evaluate the surface roughness. Furthermore, the fractal parameters of the speckle pattern are sensitive to the type of machining process and therefore they can be used to classify the machined surface. The method can be a practical tool to achieve in-situ surface roughness measurement of moving surfaces.

Dynamic laser speckle analyzed considering inhomogeneities in the biological sample.

Dynamic laser speckle phenomenon allows a contactless and nondestructive way to monitor biological changes that are quantified by second-order statistics applied in the images in time using a secondary matrix known as time history of the speckle pattern (THSP). To avoid being time consuming, the traditional way to build the THSP restricts the data to a line or column. Our hypothesis is that the spatial restriction of the information could compromise the results, particularly when undesirable and unexpected optical inhomogeneities occur, such as in cell culture media. It tested a spatial random approach to collect the points to form a THSP. Cells in a culture medium and in drying paint, representing homogeneous samples in different levels, were tested, and a comparison with the traditional method was carried out. An alternative random selection based on a Gaussian distribution around a desired position was also presented. The results showed that the traditional protocol presented higher variation than the outcomes using the random method. The higher the inhomogeneity of the activity map, the higher the efficiency of the proposed method using random points. The Gaussian distribution proved to be useful when there was a well-defined area to monitor.

Determination of the formability limits for Grade 1 titanium sheet by means of ALSAD method

Stamping is one of the most widely used sheet metal forming processes. Esthetics and durability of the deformed products are limited by defects in the form of strain localization, grooves or cracks. Forming limits, e. g. in form of forming limit curve (FLC), help to avoid above-mentioned defects in the sheet metal during forming. Besides the common steel sheets for deep drawing processes, e.g. DC04, components can also be made of metal with specified strength and chemical resistance properties. One of such materials is titanium sheet. In this paper, FLC for GR1 titanium sheet will be presented. It was obtained by means of a new author’s method named as ALSAD (Analysis of Laser Speckle Activity Differences). So far, applied methods of FLC determination have been mainly based on the measurement of the strain distribution in the area of the created groove, deformation gradient and deformation speed. For this reason, detection of strain localization has been dependent on the strain measurement method. The ALSAD, based on laser speckle phenomenon allows detection of defects initiation on the sample surface independently of the strain distribution measurement and it allows, for example, to relate a moment of defect initiation directly to the sample height or forces occurring in the process. In this paper strain values for strain localization, grooves and cracks for GR1 titanium sheet will be shown. Obtained results show good formability of this material, which was verified by means of 3D digital microscope. Such results allow tracing precisely the formation of the defects starting from strain localization up to the crack appearance, which would be helpful for advanced numerical simulations.

Accuracy in dynamic laser speckle: optimum size of speckles for temporal and frequency analyses

The dynamic laser-speckle phenomenon has been used as a potential tool to monitor the activity of many biological and nonbiological samples; however, a key tailoring of the experimental configuration must be taken into account to avoid wrong measurements, since the general rules addressed to speckle as information cannot be directly adopted in dynamic laser-speckle monitoring. The speckle/pixel size ratio is provided by the f-number and by the magnification of the macro lens, and attention is mainly directed toward adjusting a speckle/pixel ratio higher than 1. However, a speckle/pixel ratio much higher than one does not mean an optimum adjustment. This work tested different apertures with fixed magnification yielding to monitor a drying paint process. The outcomes were evaluated in the time and frequency domains. The highest speckle/pixel size ratio was not the best to monitor the process using the dynamic laser speckle under frequency analysis. Tailoring of the devices must take into account the optimum speckle/pixel size ratio, which could vary depending on the application, and the known Nyquist theorem cannot be considered as a sufficient condition since the setup of the optical camera with its macro and iris must also be adjusted in accordance with the frequency response.

Recent Clinical Applications of Laser Speckle Flowgraphy in Eyes with Retinal Disease.

Retinal diseases related to ischemia, such as diabetic retinopathy, are the main cause of blindness worldwide. However, the pathogenesis of these diseases remains unclear, as does the time course of associated changes in ocular blood flow. Laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG), which uses the laser speckle phenomenon to detect and quantify ocular circulation, is a promising candidate for a noninvasive method to measure ocular blood flow in living eyes. A recently developed LSFG measurement parameter, mean blur rate (MBR), can serve as a quantitative and reproducible index of retinal blood cell velocity. Mean blur rate can be used in the study of retinal diseases to evaluate microcirculation in the retinal vessels, choroid, and optic nerve head. In addition to overall MBR (MA), LSFG measurements of optic nerve head microcirculation can be divided into vessel-area MBR (MV) and tissue-area MBR (MT). Absolute values for MT have been shown to be linearly correlated with capillary blood flow, regardless of fundus pigmentation. Recently, there has been an increasing number of reports on the clinical applications of LSFG in retinal disease.

Extended evaluation of Erichsen cupping test results by means of laser speckle

Erichsen cupping test has usually been used to determine the height of the cup at the moment of sheet metal fracture, defined as the Erichsen Number IE. The paper presents a proposal of using Erichsen cupping test to determine the additional parameter – the height of the cup LN-IE at the moment of localized necking in sheet metal, which usually precedes fracture of sheet metal. For this purpose, a method of localized necking detection was developed. It is based on the phenomenon of laser speckle. The results of height measurements were presented for three different grades of sheet metals used in the automotive industry: 5754 H22 aluminum alloy, DC04 deep drawing steel, and Dogal 800DP high strength steel. The differences in cup heights at the moments of localized necking (LN-IE) and fracture (IE) of the tested sheet metals were in the range of 0–8%.

Projection displays: New technologies, challenges, and applications

AbstractThe achievable color gamut and light output of projection displays based on light‐emitting diodes (LEDs), phosphor conversion, and lasers are discussed. The color appearance phenomena, colorfulness, and the Helmholtz–Kohlrausch effect are discussed in the context of LED and laser illumination of projection displays, as well as some pitfalls concerning the interpretation of the Helmholtz–Kohlrausch effect. Also the laser speckle phenomenon and the characterization of it are addressed. The importance of both the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) contrast and the sequential contrast of projectors, as well as the discrepancy between measured and perceived contrasts, are explained. Visibility criteria for contouring artifacts are explained and compared with new emerging electro‐optical transfer functions that are more adapted to this issue. Stereoscopic solutions and early prototypes of autostereoscopic multi‐view, super multi‐view projection displays, and electro‐holographic displays are discussed as well as the limiting factors of these systems in the context of display resolution, and LED and laser light sources.

Multi-frequency, 3D ODS measurement by continuous scan laser Doppler vibrometry

Continuous scan laser Doppler vibrometry (CSLDV) is a technique which has been described and explored in the literature for over two decades, but remains niche compared to SLDV inspection by a series of discrete-point measurements. This is in part because of the unavoidable phenomenon of laser speckle, which deteriorates signal quality when velocity data is captured from a moving spot measurement. Further, applicability of CSLDV has typically been limited to line scans and rectangular areas by the application of sine, step, or ramp functions to the scanning mirrors which control the location of the measurement laser spot. In this paper it is shown that arbitrary functions to scan any area can easily be derived from a basic calibration routine, equivalent to the calibration performed in conventional discrete-point laser vibrometry. This is extended by performing the same scan path upon a test surface from three independent locations of the laser head, and decomposing the three sets of one-dimensional deflection shapes into a single set of three-dimensional deflection shapes. The test was performed with multi-sine excitation, yielding 34 operating deflection shapes from each scan.

Basic Technology and Clinical Applications of the Updated Model of Laser Speckle Flowgraphy to Ocular Diseases

Laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG) allows for quantitative estimation of blood flow in the optic nerve head (ONH), choroid and retina, utilizing the laser speckle phenomenon. The basic technology and clinical applications of LSFG-NAVI, the updated model of LSFG, are summarized in this review. For developing a commercial version of LSFG, the special area sensor was replaced by the ordinary charge-coupled device camera. In LSFG-NAVI, the mean blur rate (MBR) has been introduced as a new parameter. Compared to the original LSFG model, LSFG-NAVI demonstrates a better spatial resolution of the blood flow map of human ocular fundus. The observation area is 24 times larger than the original system. The analysis software can separately calculate MBRs in the blood vessels and tissues (capillaries) of an entire ONH and the measurements have good reproducibility. The absolute values of MBR in the ONH have been shown to linearly correlate with the capillary blood flow. The Analysis of MBR pulse waveform provides parameters including skew, blowout score, blowout time, rising and falling rates, flow acceleration index, acceleration time index, and resistivity index for comparing different eyes. Recently, there have been an increasing number of reports on the clinical applications of LSFG-NAVI to ocular diseases, including glaucoma, retinal and choroidal diseases.

Random process estimator for laser speckle imaging of cerebral blood flow

In this paper, we develop a random process theory to explain the laser speckle phenomena. The relation between the probability distribution of speckle’s integrated intensity random process and the relative velocity is derived. Based on the random process theory, traditional spatial or temporal laser speckle contrast analysis (i.e. spatial or temporal LASCA) can be derived as the spatial or temporal estimators respectively. Both spatial LASCA and temporal LASCA suffer from noise due to insufficient statistics and nonstationarity in either spatial or temporal domain. Furthermore, either LASCA results in a reduction of spatial or temporal resolution. A new random process estimator is proposed and able to overcome these drawbacks. In an in-vitro study, random process estimator outperforms either spatial LASCA or temporal LASCA by providing much higher SNR (random process estimator vs. spatial LASCA vs. temporal LASCA: 33.64±6.87 ( ) vs. 9.08±2.85 vs. 3.83±1.05). In an in-vivo structural imaging study, random process estimator efficiently suppresses the noise in contrast image and thus improves the distinguishability of small vessels. In a functional imaging study of cerebral blood flow change in the somatosensory cortex induced by rat’s hind paw stimulation, random process estimator provides much lower estimation errors in single trial data (random process estimator vs. temporal LASCA: 0.31±0.03 vs. 1.36±0.09) and finally leads to higher resolution spatiotemporal patterns of cerebral blood flow.

Use of laser speckle flowgraphy in ocular blood flow research

Laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG) allows for the quantitative estimation of blood flow in the optic nerve head, choroid, retina and iris in vivo. It was developed to facilitate the non-contact analysis of ocular blood flow in living eyes, utilizing the laser speckle phenomenon. The technique uses a fundus camera, a diode laser, an image sensor, an infrared charge-coupled device (CCD) camera and a high-resolution digital CCD camera. Normalized blur (NB), an approximate reciprocal of speckle contrast, represents an index of blood velocity, and shows a good correlation with tissue blood flow rates determined with the microsphere method in the retina, choroid or iris, as well as blood flow rates determined with the hydrogen gas clearance method in the optic nerve head. The square blur ratio (SBR), another index for quantitative estimation of blood velocity, is proportional to the square of the NB. The SBR is theoretically a more exact measurement which is proportional to velocity, whereas the NB is an approximation. Normalized blur was calculated in earlier versions of LSFG because of technical limitations; the SBR is used in current versions of the LSFG instrument. As these values are in arbitrary units, they should not be used to make comparisons between different eyes or different sites in an eye. Clinical protocols, calibration, evaluation procedures and possible limitations of the LSFG technique are described and the results of ocular blood flow studies using LSFG are briefly summarized. The LSFG method is suitable for monitoring the time-course of change in the tissue circulation at the same site in the same eye at various intervals, ranging from seconds to months. Unresolved issues concern the effect of pupil size on measurement results, the effects of various stimulations, and how to measure choroidal and retinal blood flow velocity separately without using the blue-component of argon laser.

Imaging of choroidal hemodynamics in eyes with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy using laser speckle phenomenon

To compare the images of choroidal vasculature obtained by laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG) and indocyanine green angiography (IA), and to evaluate the imaging of choroidal hemodynamics in eyes with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) using LSFG. We performed IA and wide-field LSFG, which measures the index of blood velocity (mean square blur rate; MBR) in 25 eyes with PCV. We constructed an MBR map of the sequential MBR images (600 x 280 pixels) from four or five pulsations during measurement (4.5 s). A grayscale composite map of a still image was obtained by averaging the cumulative sum of the MBR map. We compared the angiographic images of the grayscale composite map to IA results and evaluated the choroidal hemodynamics of 25 eyes with PCV in the MBR map. The choroidal vasculature on the grayscale map had a resolution similar to the IA results. The grayscale map detected branching network vessels in 20 (80%) of the 25 eyes and polypoidal lesions in 11 (44%) eyes. The MBR map showed that the pulsations of the branching network vessels and polypoidal lesions were synchronized with the cardiac rhythm. The fluctuation rates of the PCV lesions during one pulsation ranged from 8.3% to 26.7% (mean, 13.6%) and from 7.3% to 24.6% (mean, 15.9%) for the intact choroid. The MBR map showed the watershed zone and highest signal intensity in the macula. Using an MBR map, wide-field LSFG revealed the pulsating choroidal hemodynamics of the posterior fundus. A grayscale composite map showed the fine choroidal vasculature whose resolution was comparable to that of IA. The branching network vessels of PCV showed that pulsation was synchronized with the choroidal vessels. Wide-field LSFG showed the highest choroidal blood flow in the macular area and the presence of a watershed zone.

Influence of tissue optical properties on laser Doppler perfusion imaging, accounting for photon penetration depth and the laser speckle phenomenon

The influence of tissue optical properties on laser Doppler perfusion imaging (LDPI) is not well understood. We address this problem by quantifying the dependence of the signal response to tissue optical properties based on speckles or coherence areas and on photon statistics. We investigate the effect in vivo, showing the amplitude of photocurrent fluctuations in normal skin and port-wine stain with a range of beam diameters, and its relation to the speckle size variation difference between these two tissues. For the case of a low concentration of moving particles moving within a static turbid medium, a model is described and applied to predict the influence of speckles on the overall and depth sensitivity of LDPI, for a range of scattering levels and absorption levels. The results show that the speckle related effects on overall and depth sensitivity are large and that the depth sensitivity is highly likely to be misinterpreted without taking the speckle phenomenon into account.

New Laser Speckle Flowgraphy System Using CCD Camera

A new technique is developed to visualize the blood flow map of the human retina using laser speckle phenomena. Despite use of an ordinary CCD camera as the detector, the performance of laser speckle flowgraphy system for the analysis of ocular blood circulation is greatly improved to achieve higher resolution and a wider field of view for blood flow mapping. It is shown that the quality of the blood flow map is influenced by the sampling format of the pixel points in the space- and time-varying speckle field.

In Vivo Measurement of Ocular Circulation with the Laser Speckle Method—Development of Apparatus and Application in Ophthalmological Research

central retinal vein was 35.5 +/- 3.2 mm/sec with a correlation coefficient between them of 0.91. In a total of 4 eyes with impending central retinal vein or artery occlusion, measurements by the laser speckle method, and CDI method were carried out. The blood velocities measured by the both methods increased along with the treatment. A good correlation between the CDI results and the laser speckle results indicates validity and clinical potential of the present laser speckle method.

Real-time measurement of human optic nerve head and choroid circulation, using the laser speckle phenomenon

A modification of a previously described instrument that used the laser speckle phenomenon for noncontact two-dimensional analysis of the fundus tissue circulation was devised so that tissue circulation in the optic nerve head (ONH) or choroid of the human eye could be measured on a real-time basis. The fundus was illuminated by a diode laser spot and the image speckle was recognized by an area sensor. A quantitative index of blood velocity, normalized blur (NB), was calculated by a logistic board every 0.125 seconds for 7 seconds. Using this modified device, the average NB of the measurement field in the temporal ONH, free of visible surface vessels (NB ONH), and that in the posterior choroid (NB ch) of normal human eyes were measured. The coefficients of reproducibility of 1-minute interval measurements were 11.7% for the NB ONH and 8.7% for the NB ch (each, an average of 5 pulses), and those of 24-hour interval measurements were 13.0% (NB ONH) and 9.7% (NB ch). The pulsatile component average of NB ONH was 38.4% of mean NB ONH; of NB ch, 26.6% of the mean NB ch.

Laser speckle contrast analysis (LASCA): a nonscanning, full-field technique for monitoring capillary blood flow

A new noninvasive technique for monitoring capillary blood flow has been developed. Based on the phenomenon of time-varying laser speckle, it is a digital version of single-exposure speckle photography. It provides a velocity map of the area of interest in real time without the need for scanning. The results of some initial experiments on volunteers are presented.

Non-contact, two-dimensional measurement of tissue circulation in choroid and optic nerve head using laser speckle phenomenon

A new apparatus has been developed using the laser speckle phenomenon for non-contact, two-dimensional analysis of tissue circulation in the choroid and optic nerve head (ONH). The fundus was illuminated by a diode laser spot and its image speckle was detected by an image sensor. The difference between the average of the speckle intensity (Imean) and the speckle intensity for successive scannings was calculated, and the ratio of Imean to this difference was defined as normalized blur (NB), which is a quantitative index of blood velocity. The results were displayed on color graphic monitors showing the two-dimensional variation of the NB level in the measurement field. In the rabbit, this apparatus was used to study the relationship between the results of NB measurement and the choroidal blood flow determined by the microsphere technique, the relationship between NB obtained from the ONH tissue free of visible surface vessels and the ocular perfusion pressure (OPP) after a lethal injection of pentobarital, and the effect of intraocular pressure (IOP) on the NB in the choroid or in the ONH. A stepwise reduction in the OPP was introduced by elevating the IOP manometrically. The relative decrease in the average NB over the field measured, NBav, in the choroid with the reduction in OPP showed a significant correlation with the relative change in the blood flow rate determined using the microsphere technique (r = 0.60, P < 0.001). NBav in the ONH had a good correlation with the OPP after a lethal injection of pentobarbital (r = 0.98, P < 0.001). NBav in the choroid decreased with reduction in the OPP. Although NBav in the ONH was little affected by OPP change when OPP was above 40 mmHg, at OPP levels below 40 mmHg, NBav in the ONH decreased along with a reduction in the OPP. These results suggest that by using the present apparatus, the blood velocity in the choroid or ONH under various conditions can be studied non-invasively in the living eye.

Optic nerve head blood flow in glaucoma

These days it is commonly accepted that multiple factors are involved in the etiology of glaucoma. Although many studies have demonstrated that the major risk factor for glaucoma is an increase in intraocular pressure (IOP), some studies, including epidemiologic studies, have suggested an association between glaucoma, especially primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and normal-tension glaucoma (NTG), and vascular factors. In this chapter, previous studies regarding the implications of optic nerve head (ONH) blood flow in glaucoma will be reviewed, and then our recent studies will be presented. Some population-based prevalence surveys demonstrated that lower perfusion pressure (blood pressure – intraocular pressure), especially diastolic perfusion pressure, was strongly associated with an increased prevalence of POAG or NTG in the US, Europe and Asia (Tielsch et al, 1995; Bonomi et al, 2000; Leske et al, 2002; Hulseman et al, 2007). These reports suggest that POAG including NTG is associated with alterations in factors related to ocular blood flow. There is also sufficient evidence that optic disc hemorrhage is an important risk factor for glaucoma progression (Daugeliene et al, 1999; Leske et al, 2003; Bengtsson et al, 2008; Prata et al, 2010). Additionally, increasing peripapillary atrophy, which might be related with hypoperfusion to the ONH, was reportedly associated with progressive glaucoma (Araie et al, 1994; Uchida et al, 1998; Daugeliene et al, 1999), and it has been reported that non-use of calcium channel blockers was significantly associated with the progression of visual field loss in NTG (Daugeliene et al, 1999). Clinically usable methods for the measurement of ONH blood flow include fluorescein fundus angiography, scanning laser Doppler flowmetry, and laser speckle flowgraphy. Fluorescein fundus angiography has multiple limitations in quantitatively evaluating ONH blood flow (Hayreh, 1997). Above all, once the dense capillary network in the surface nerve fiber layer of the ONH fills completely with fluorescein-stained blood, underlying ciliary vessels are masked so that no information can be obtained about the circulation in the deeper capillaries. Laser Doppler flowmetry is predominantly sensitive to blood flow changes in the superficial layers of the ONH and gives very little information about the prelaminar and deeper regions of the ONH (Petrig et al, 1999). Laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG) can detect capillary blood flow in the ONH, probably around the laminar region, and is suitable for monitoring the time-course of its change (Sugiyama et al, 2010). LSFG was develped to facilitate the non-contact analysis of ocular blood flow utilizing the laser speckle phenomenon (Tamaki et al, 1995). Originally, normalized blur and square blur rate had been used as indexes of blood velocity, but later they were experimentally shown to be well correlated with blood flow rate. In the recent version of LSFG, a new parameter, mean blur rate (MBR), which is

Evaluation of blood flow at ocular fundus by using laser speckle

We report a method for noninvasively evaluating blood flow at the ocular fundus by using laser speckle phenomena. The intensity fluctuation of speckles scattered from a 1-mm-diameter illuminated area at the fundus is detected and analyzed by the photon-correlation technique, which gives us the relative degree of total blood flows within the probe area. The method is used to evaluate blood flows at the ocular fundus of a rabbit and normal human volunteers. The experimental results show that the present laser speckle method is useful for the relative evaluation of blood flows in the ocular fundus tissue.