Project description
Imaging systems that can see clearly through messy environments
Capturing clear images in complex environments, such as in foggy conditions or inside living tissues, is fairly challenging because light scatters unpredictably. Current methods can create clear images through scattered light only if everything stays still during the process – something rarely possible in real-world scenarios. Instead of trying to force clarity in these chaotic conditions, the ERC-funded FLASH project will use the chaos itself as a tool. By analysing how light interacts with moving objects or changing environments, it will be possible to extract hidden patterns and turn them into clear, detailed images. Project theoretical and experimental activities could help transform fields such as medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring and space exploration.
Objective
Optical imaging systems are central to modern life, from smartphones and autonomous vehicles to laser-based microscopes in biomedical investigations and clinical diagnostics. Yet, even the most advanced imaging systems are severely limited by random scattering of light in dynamic environments, from live tissues to rapidly varying fog. Recent breakthroughs in computational scattering compensation, including my own works, have allowed an unprecedented leap in capabilities: it is now possible to reconstruct crystal-clear megapixel-scale images through visually opaque turbid samples by computationally processing a set of scattered light frames captured under controlled illumination. However, current techniques are fundamentally limited by their assumption of static scenes: both the scattering medium and the target must remain fixed during acquisition, severely limiting their impact on practical applications.
Here, I propose a new paradigm: to exploit scene dynamics as the source of information rather than trying to eliminate or outpace them. This is made possible by two unpublished insights: (1) that target dynamics can serve the same purpose as controlled time-varying illuminations; (2) that scattering dynamics can as well be mathematically equivalent to illumination or target variations. We translate these findings to two new formalisms: a “dynamic matrix” for dynamic targets, and a “dual matrix” for dynamic scattering. Merging these formalisms with the recent model-based computational correction techniques, it is possible to transform dynamic scattering from an obstacle to a source of information.
Project FLASH combines experimental, numerical, and theoretical efforts to develop and apply these techniques across different modalities: from holographic and fluorescence imaging to lensless endoscopy and photoacoustic tomography. The results will allow new capabilities for imaging under dynamic conditions, with implications in other domains, from geophysics to RADAR.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology mechanical engineering vehicle engineering automotive engineering autonomous vehicles
- natural sciences physical sciences optics microscopy
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering information engineering telecommunications radio technology radar
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering information engineering telecommunications mobile phones
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences geophysics
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-COG
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91904 Jerusalem
Israel
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