Modeling and Measurement of Image Sensor Characteristics

The optical transfer function (OTF), as an objective measure of the quality of optical and electro-optical systems, is closely related to the point spread function (PSF) and other derived characteristics, such as the modulation transfer function (MTF) and the phase transfer function (PTF). The paper focused to the use a generalized OTF, which is primarily dedicated to the description of linear space invariant systems (LSI), for the purpose of sampled structures of image sensors (e.g. CCD, CMOS, CID), and to implement the derived results while utilizing the graphical user's interface (GUI) in Matlab. The model used considers the effects of the detector photo sensitive area, sampling process, as well as other CCD specific parameters, such as the charge transfer efficiency (CTE) or diffusion in order to derive the overall MTF shape. The paper also includes an experimental measurement in the real system and a comparison with the results of modeling

2D Iterative MAP Detection: Principles and Applications in Image Restoration

The paper provides a theoretical framework for the two-dimensional iterative maximum a posteriori detection. This generalization is based on the concept of detection algorithms BCJR and SOVA, i.e., the classical (one-dimensional) iterative detectors used in telecommunication applications. We generalize the one-dimensional detection problem considering the spatial ISI kernel as a two-dimensional finite state machine (2D FSM) representing a network of the spatially concatenated elements. The cellular structure topology defines the design of the 2D Iterative decoding network, where each cell is a general combination-marginalization statistical element (SISO module) exchanging discrete probability density functions (information metrics) with neighboring cells. In this paper, we statistically analyse the performance of various topologies with respect to their application in the field of image restoration. The iterative detection algorithm was applied on the task of binarization of images taken from a CCD camera. The reconstruction includes suppression of the defocus caused by the lens, CCD sensor noise suppression and interpolation (demosaicing). The simulations prove that the algorithm provides satisfactory results even in the case of an input image that is under-sampled due to the Bayer mask

Utilization of Image Intensifiers in Astronomy

In this paper we present the properties of image intensifiers, used together with fast TV cameras for astronomical purposes within the MAIA project(Meteor Automatic Imager and Analyser, primarily focused on observing meteoric events with high time resolution). The main objective of our paper is to evaluate the suitability of these devices for astronomical purposes in terms of noise, temporal and spectral analysis

Utilization of Image Intensifiers in Astronomy

In this paper we present the properties of image intensifiers, used together with fast TV cameras for astronomical purposes within the MAIA project(Meteor Automatic Imager and Analyser, primarily focused on observing meteoric events with high time resolution). The main objective of our paper is to evaluate the suitability of these devices for astronomical purposes in terms of noise, temporal and spectral analysis

MAIA: Technical Development of a Novel System for Video Observations of Meteors

A system for double station observation of meteors now known as MAIA (Meteor Automatic Imager and Analyzer) is introduced in this paper. The system is based on two stations with gigabite ethernet cameras, sensitive image intensifiers and automatic processing of the recorded image data. This paper presents the measured electrooptical characteristics of the components and the overall performance of the new digital system in comparison with the current analog solution

Astronomical Image Compression Techniques Based on ACC and KLT Coder

This paper deals with a compression of image data in applications in astronomy. Astronomical images have typical specific properties — high grayscale bit depth, size, noise occurrence and special processing algorithms. They belong to the class of scientific images. Their processing and compression is quite different from the classical approach of multimedia image processing. The database of images from BOOTES (Burst Observer and Optical Transient Exploring System) has been chosen as a source of the testing signal. BOOTES is a Czech-Spanish robotic telescope for observing AGN (active galactic nuclei) and the optical transient of GRB (gamma ray bursts) searching. This paper discusses an approach based on an analysis of statistical properties of image data. A comparison of two irrelevancy reduction methods is presented from a scientific (astrometric and photometric) point of view. The first method is based on a statistical approach, using the Karhunen-Loeve transform (KLT) with uniform quantization in the spectral domain. The second technique is derived from wavelet decomposition with adaptive selection of used prediction coefficients. Finally, the comparison of three redundancy reduction methods is discussed. Multimedia format JPEG2000 and HCOMPRESS, designed especially for astronomical images, are compared with the new Astronomical Context Coder (ACC) coder based on adaptive median regression

A 3-D Multilateration: A Precision Geodetic Measurement System

A system was designed with the capability of determining 1-cm accuracy station positions in three dimensions using pulsed laser earth satellite tracking stations coupled with strictly geometric data reduction. With this high accuracy, several crucial geodetic applications become possible, including earthquake hazards assessment, precision surveying, plate tectonics, and orbital determination

Three-D multilateration: A precision geodetic measurement system

A technique of satellite geodesy for determining the relative three dimensional coordinates of ground stations within one centimeter over baselines of 20 to 10,000 kilometers is discussed. The system is referred to as 3-D Multilateration and has applications in earthquake hazard assessment, precision surveying, plate tectonics, and orbital mechanics. The accuracy is obtained by using pulsed lasers to obtain simultaneous slant ranges between several ground stations and a moving retroreflector with known trajectory for aiming the lasers

Tracking system analytic calibration activities for the Mariner Mars 1971 mission

Data covering various planning aspects of Mariner Mars 1971 mission are summarized. Data cover calibrating procedures for tracking stations, radio signal propagation in the troposphere, effects of charged particles on radio transmission, orbit calculation, and data smoothing

Development and validation of the ACE tool: Assessing medical trainees' competency in evidence based medicine

BACKGROUND: While a variety of instruments have been developed to assess knowledge and skills in evidence based medicine (EBM), few assess all aspects of EBM - including knowledge, skills attitudes and behaviour - or have been psychometrically evaluated. The aim of this study was to develop and validate an instrument that evaluates medical trainees’ competency in EBM across knowledge, skills and attitude. METHODS: The ‘Assessing Competency in EBM’ (ACE) tool was developed by the authors, with content and face validity assessed by expert opinion. A cross-sectional sample of 342 medical trainees representing ‘novice’, ‘intermediate’ and ‘advanced’ EBM trainees were recruited to complete the ACE tool. Construct validity, item difficulty, internal reliability and item discrimination were analysed. RESULTS: We recruited 98 EBM-novice, 108 EBM-intermediate and 136 EBM-advanced participants. A statistically significant difference in the total ACE score was observed and corresponded to the level of training: on a 0-15-point test, the mean ACE scores were 8.6 for EBM-novice; 9.5 for EBM-intermediate; and 10.4 for EBM-advanced (p < 0.0001). Individual item discrimination was excellent (Item Discrimination Index ranging from 0.37 to 0.84), with internal reliability consistent across all but three items (Item Total Correlations were all positive ranging from 0.14 to 0.20). CONCLUSION: The 15-item ACE tool is a reliable and valid instrument to assess medical trainees’ competency in EBM. The ACE tool provides a novel assessment that measures user performance across the four main steps of EBM. To provide a complete suite of instruments to assess EBM competency across various patient scenarios, future refinement of the ACE instrument should include further scenarios across harm, diagnosis and prognosis