Image Quality Analysis of a Spectra-Radiometric Sparse-Aperture Model

Sparse aperture (SA) telescopes represent a promising technology to increase the effective diameter of an optical system while reducing overall weight and stowable size. Although conceptually explored in the literature for decades, the technology has only recently matured to the point of being reasonably considered for certain applications. In general, a sparse aperture system consists of an array of sub-apertures that are phased to synthesize a larger effective aperture. The models used to date to create predictions of sparse aperture imagery typically make use of a “gray world” assumption, where the input is a resampled black and white panchromatic image. This input is then degraded and resampled with a so-called polychromatic system optical transfer function (OTF), which is a weighted average of the OTFs over the spectral bandpass. In reality, a physical OTF is spectrally dependent, exhibiting varying structure with spatial frequency (especially in the presence of optical aberrations or sub-aperture phase errors). Given this spectral variation with spatial frequency, there is some concern the traditional gray world resampling approach may not address significant features of the image quality associated with sparse aperture systems. This research investigates the subject of how the image quality of a sparse aperture system varies with respect to a conventional telescope from a spectra-radiometric perspective, with emphasis on whether the restored sparse aperture image will be beset by spectral artifacts

Using Multispectral Information to Decrease the Spectral Artifacts in Sparse-Aperture Imagery

Optical sparse-aperture telescopes represent a promising new technology to increase the effective diameter of an optical system while reducing its weight and stowable size. The sub-apertures of a sparse-aperture system are phased to synthesize a telescope system that has a larger effective aperture than any of the independentsub-apertures. Sparse-apertures have mostly been modeled to date using a gray-world approximation where the input is a grayscale image. The gray-world model makes use of a polychromatic optical transfer function (OTF) where the spectral OTFs are averaged to form a single OTF. This OTF is then convolved with the grayscale image to create the resultant sparse-aperture image. The model proposed here uses a spectral image-cube as the input to create a panchromatic or multispectral result. These outputs better approximate an actual system because there is a higher spectral fidelity present than a gray-world model. Unlike its Cassegrain counterpart that has a well behaved OTF, the majority of sparse-aperture OTFs have very oscillatory and attenuated natures. When a spectral sparse-aperture model is used, spectral artifacts become apparent when thephasing errors increase beyond a certain threshold. This threshold can be based in part on the type of phasing error (i.e. piston, tip/tilt, and the amount present in each sub-aperture), as well as the collection conditions, including configuration, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and fill factor.This research addresses whether integrating a restored multispectral sparse-aperture image into a panchromatic image will decrease the amount of spectral artifacts present. The restored panchromatic image created from integrating multispectral images is compared to a conventional panchromatic sparse-aperture image. Conclusionsare drawn through image quality analysis and the change in spectral artifacts

Drug-eluting stents versus bare-metal stents in saphenous vein grafts: a double-blind, randomised trial

BackgroundFew studies have examined the efficacy of drug-eluting stents (DES) for reducing aortocoronary saphenous vein bypass graft (SVG) failure compared with bare-metal stents (BMS) in patients undergoing stenting of de-novo SVG lesions. We assessed the risks and benefits of the use of DES versus BMS in de-novo SVG lesions.MethodsPatients were recruited to our double-blind, randomised controlled trial from 25 US Department of Veterans Affairs centres. Eligible participants were aged at least 18 years and had at least one significant de-novo SVG lesion (50-99% stenosis of a 2·25-4·5 mm diameter SVG) requiring percutaneous coronary intervention with intent to use embolic protection devices. Enrolled patients were randomly assigned, in a 1:1 ratio, by phone randomisation system to receive a DES or BMS. Randomisation was stratified by presence or absence of diabetes and number of target SVG lesions requiring percutaneous coronary intervention (one or two or more) within each participating site by use of an adaptive scheme intended to balance the two stent type groups on marginal totals for the stratification factors. Patients, referring physicians, study coordinators, and outcome assessors were masked to group allocation. The primary endpoint was the 12-month incidence of target vessel failure, defined as the composite of cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, or target vessel revascularisation. The DIVA trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01121224.FindingsBetween Jan 1, 2012, and Dec 31, 2015, 599 patients were randomly assigned to the stent groups, and the data for 597 patients were used. The patients' mean age was 68·6 (SD 7·6) years, and 595 (>99%) patients were men. The two stent groups were similar for most baseline characteristics. At 12 months, the incidence of target vessel failure was 17% (51 of 292) in the DES group versus 19% (58 of 305) in the BMS group (adjusted hazard ratio 0·92, 95% CI 0·63-1·34, p=0·70). Between-group differences in the components of the primary endpoint, serious adverse events, or stent thrombosis were not significant. Enrolment was stopped before the revised target sample size of 762 patients was reached.InterpretationIn patients undergoing stenting of de-novo SVG lesions, no significant differences in outcomes between those receiving DES and BMS during 12 months of follow-up were found. The study results have important economic implications in countries with high DES prices such as the USA, because they suggest that the lower-cost BMS can be used in SVG lesions without compromising either safety or efficacy.FundingUS Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program