Non-invasive super-resolution imaging through scattering media using object fluctuation

Abstract Introducing super-resolution techniques to imaging through scattering media potentially revolutionizes the technical analysis for many exotic applications, such as cell structures behind biological tissues. The main challenge is scattering media’s inhomogeneous structures, which scramble the light path and create noise-like speckle patterns, hindering the object’s visualization even at a low-resolution level. Here, we propose a computational method relying on the object’s spatial and temporal fluctuation to visualize nanoscale objects through scattering media non-invasively. Taking advantage of the optical memory effect and multiple frames, we estimate the point spreading function (PSF) of the scattering media. Multiple images of the fluctuating object are obtained by deconvolution; then, the super-resolution image is achieved by computing the high-order cumulants. Non-linearity of high order cumulant significantly suppresses the artifacts in the resulting images and enhances the resolution by a factor of √N, where N is the cumulant order. Our proof-of-concept demonstration shows 188-nm FWHM feature at 12nd cumulant order, breaking the Rayleigh diffraction limit by a factor of 3.46. Our non-invasive super-resolution speckle fluctuation imaging (NISFFI) presents a nanoscopy technique with straightforward imaging hardware configuration to visualize samples behind scattering media.