Application of short-coherence lensless Fourier-transform digital holography in imaging through diffusive medium

We propose a short-coherence lensless Fourier-transform digital holography for imaging through scattering media. The technique utilizes a low-power cw diode laser with short temporal coherence and enables the selection of the early-arriving photons through a diffusive medium by interfering with a spherical reference beam from the same source. An averaging technique is introduced to extract the weak signal from strong background noise. The proposed technique is verified using both theoretical analysis and experimental demonstration by imaging an object through a 3-mm-thick chicken breast tissue. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.