Research Lars-Paul Lumbeeck

Abstract

Terahertz (THz) tomography is an up and coming technology that uses electromagnetic radiation with terahertz frequency for tomographic imaging. Like X-rays, THz waves provide information about the interior of an object through interaction with the object. THz waves interact with many materials in different ways. They are absorbed in polar materials such as water, penetrate most packing materials (plastic, paper, ceramics, …) and are completely reflected by metal. In contrast to X-rays, there are no known negative effects of THz waves, making their application attractive for biomedical purposes as well as industrial inspection, non-destructive testing, material science and agro-food applications. The Gaussian THz beam however, diverges much faster than an X-ray beam and reflection and refraction effects play a dominant role, preventing the use of conventional X-ray reconstruction techniques. In this project, we focus on the development of prior-knowledge based iterative reconstruction techniques for THz tomographic data that model the physics of the THz image formation in the image reconstruction process, as opposed to performing pre- or post-processing steps. Such algorithms are nearly unexplored for THz imaging and can greatly increase the applicability of the technique through a substantial improvement in image quality.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Beenhouwer Jan
• Co-promoter: Sijbers Jan
• Fellow: Lumbeeck Lars-Paul

Research team(s)

• Vision lab

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Terahertz (THz) tomography is an up and coming technology that uses electromagnetic radiation with terahertz frequency for tomographic imaging. Like X-rays, THz waves can give information about the interior of an object through interaction with the object. In contrast to X-rays, there are no known negative effects of THz waves, making their application attractive for biomedical purposes as well as industrial inspection. THz rays interact with many materials in different ways. They are absorbed in polar materials such as water, penetrate most packing materials (plastic, paper, ceramics, …) and are completely reflected by metal. With terahertz tomography it is possible to, for instance visualize the contents of a sealed package. The Gaussian THz beam however, diverges much faster than an X-ray beam and reflection and refraction effects play a dominant role, preventing the use of X-ray reconstruction techniques. Here, we focus on the development of prior-knowledge based iterative reconstruction techniques for pulsed terahertz tomographic data that not only provides information on the absorption but also on phase differences.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Beenhouwer Jan
• Fellow: Lumbeeck Lars-Paul

Research team(s)

• Vision lab

Project type(s)

• Research Project