NeuWS: Neural Wavefront Shaping for guidestar-free imaging through static and dynamic scattering media

Diffraction-limited optical imaging through scattering media has the
potential to transform many applications such as airborne and space-based
imaging (through the atmosphere), bio-imaging (through skin and human
tissue), and fiber-based-imaging (through fiber bundles). Existing
wavefront shaping methods can image through scattering media and other
obscurants by optically correcting wavefront aberrations using
high-resolution spatial light modulators—but these methods generally
require (a) guidestars, (b) controlled illumination, (c) point scanning
and/or (d) statics scenes and aberrations. We propose Neural Wavefront
Shaping (NeuWS), a scanning-free wavefront shaping technique which
integrates maximum likelihood estimation, measurement modulation, and
neural signal representations to reconstruct diffraction-limited images
through strong static and dynamic scattering media without guidestars,
sparse targets, controlled illumination, nor specialized image sensors. We
experimentally demonstrate guidestar-free, wide-field-of-view,
high-resolution, diffraction-limited imaging of extended, non-sparse,
static/dynamic scenes captured through static/dynamic aberrations.