CODED APERTURE IMAGING

Improved systems and methods for coded aperture imaging of radiation-emitting sources. According to one aspect, the present invention is directed to reducing and/or eliminating the artifacts that are inherent in previous near field coded aperture imaging systems such that the improved sensitivity and resolution of these systems can be practically utilized.A system and method of the present invention utilizes two projections of radiation from an object, the first through a first coded aperture mask pattern, and the second through a second coded aperture mask pattern, where a decoding array associated with the second mask pattern is the negative of a decoding array associated with the first mask pattern. Data from both projections is combined to produce a reconstructed object image that is substantially free of near-field artifacts.The present invention additionally relates to further improvements in the sensitivity and spatial resolution of coded aperture imaging applications. More particularly, the present invention relates to improvements in the design and fabrication of coded aperture masks for use in coded aperture imaging devices. Improvements can be made to the resolution, for instance, by selecting smaller pixel sizes for the opaque and transparent elements of the coded aperture mask. Also, it is possible to improve the signal-to-noise ratio for near-field applications by selecting an appropriate thickness for the mask. The signal-to-noise ratio may be further improved by selecting the appropriate mask pattern based on the particular characteristics of the near-field imaging problem at hand.