Adaptive Optics Imaging Through Scattering Media
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current imaging techniques fail to effectively visualize and characterize oil/water interfaces, nanoparticles, and nanoparticle mobility within porous rock formations at the sub-micron scale due to optical scattering, limiting the understanding of fluid and nanoparticle transport and hindering efficient hydrocarbon extraction.
Innovation Solution
The development of a Super-Penetration Multi-Photon Microscope (SP-MPM) system using a pupil-conjugate Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) to optimize the phase of coherent light, combined with adaptive optics and deformable mirrors, which corrects for aberrations and enhances imaging depth and resolution within scattering media, allowing for 3D imaging of dynamic and stationary particles and fluid interfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of stationary object
If traditional microscopy techniques are used to image through scattering media, then imaging is limited to surface or near-surface flow, but imaging depth is severely restricted to 50-60 microns due to light scattering
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful light scattering effect into a beneficial signal by using the scattered light itself as the optimization target. The spatial light modulator uses feedback from detected scattered light to calculate and apply phase corrections that compensate for scattering effects, thereby enabling deep tissue imaging through what was previously considered an obstructive medium
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a closed-loop feedback mechanism where light scattered from the sample is detected, used to calculate optimal phase patterns, and then fed back through the spatial light modulator to correct subsequent illumination. This iterative feedback process continuously optimizes the phase to compensate for scattering and maintain imaging depth beyond 50-60 microns
2Length of stationary object
If imaging depth is increased beyond 50 microns, then subsurface nanoparticle and fluid interface visualization becomes possible, but image quality degrades due to scattering and distortion
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary optimization of the phase pattern before actual imaging occurs. By pre-calculating and applying the optimal phase correction using the spatial light modulator, the system prepares the illumination to compensate for scattering effects that will occur at the target imaging depth, thereby maintaining image quality before the degradation can occur
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically changes the phase parameter of the illumination light using the spatial light modulator. By adjusting the phase distribution across the beam profile to match the scattering characteristics of the sample, the system compensates for scattering-induced image degradation and maintains measurement precision at depths beyond 50 microns
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If conventional optical microscopy is used, then imaging is limited to transparent surfaces, but subsurface particles embedded in scattering media become blurred and uncharacterizable
Solution Approach 1:
The spatial light modulator acts as an intermediary between the light source and the subsurface particles. It modifies the phase of the illumination light to pre-compensate for scattering effects, creating an optimized illumination pattern that preserves particle information as it passes through the scattering media, thereby enabling detection and characterization that would otherwise be lost
4Length of stationary object
If two-photon microscopy is used for deep imaging, then imaging depth increases, but field of view is limited and suitable only for smaller imaging applications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adds the phase dimension to the traditional spatial illumination approach. By modulating the phase of light across different spatial locations using the spatial light modulator, the system achieves both deep penetration and wide field of view simultaneously, overcoming the trade-off that limits two-photon microscopy to small imaging areas
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The SP-MPM system significantly enhances imaging depth and resolution, enabling the detection of nanoparticles and fluid flow beyond 50 microns, improving the characterization of pore structures and fluid dynamics within reservoir rocks, and facilitating more efficient hydrocarbon extraction.
Implementation Method 1
The invention uses two photon and multi-photon light sources for super-penetration with adaptive optics
Implementation Method 2
two-/multi-photon fluorescence microscopy
Implementation Method 3
a deformable mirror...for optimizing a phase of coherent light of the laser beam focused on a sample
Implementation Method 4
adaptive optics along with two/multi-photon microscopy in order to enhance an image quality through scattering media
Implementation Method 5
uses a spatial light modulator (SLM) to optimize the phase of the coherent light focused on the sample, compensating for scattering
Implementation Method 6
focusing the beam and collecting a fluorescence signal from the sample
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the invention provide an imaging system and method using adaptive optics and optimization algorithms for imaging through highly scattering media in oil reservoir applications and lab-based petroleum research. Two-/multi-photon fluorescence microscopy is used in conjunction with adaptive optics for enhanced imaging and detection capabilities in scattering reservoir media. Advanced fluorescence techniques are used to allow for super-penetration imaging to compensate for aberrations both in and out of the field of interest, extending the depth at which pore geometry can be imaged within a rock matrix beyond the current capability of confocal microscopy. The placement of a Deformable Mirror or Spatial Light Modulator for this application, in which scattering and index mismatch are dominant aberrations, is in an optical plane that is conjugate to the pupil plane of the objective lens in the imaging system.