Abstract
The two-point-source resolution criterion is widely used to quantify
the performance of imaging systems. The two main approaches for the
computation of the two-point-source resolution are the detection
theoretic and visual analyses. The first assumes a shift-invariant
system and lacks the ability to incorporate two different point spread
functions (PSFs), which may be required in certain situations like
computing axial resolution. The latter approach, which includes the
Rayleigh criterion, relies on the peak-to-valley ratio and does not
properly account for the presence of noise. We present a heuristic
generalization of the visual two-point-source resolution criterion
using Gaussian processes (GP). This heuristic criterion is applicable
to both shift-invariant and shift-variant imaging modalities. This
criterion can also incorporate different definitions of resolution
expressed in terms of varying peak-to-valley ratios. Our approach
implicitly incorporates information about noise statistics such as the
variance or signal-to-noise ratio by making assumptions about the
spatial correlation of PSFs in the form of kernel functions. Also, it
does not rely on an analytic form of the PSF.
Funder
National Science Foundation
Office of Naval Research
Air Force Office of Scientific
Research
Subject
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics