Browsing by Subject "tomography"

This work focuses on the construction and application of coded apertures to compressive X-ray tomography. Coded apertures can be made in a number of ways, each method having an impact on system background and signal contrast. Methods of constructing coded apertures for structuring X-ray illumination and scatter are compared and analyzed. Apertures can create structured X-ray bundles that investigate specific sets of object voxels. The tailored bundles of rays form a code (or pattern) and are later estimated through computational inversion. Structured illumination can be used to subsample object voxels and make inversion feasible for low dose computed tomography (CT) systems, or it can be used to reduce background in limited angle CT systems.

On the detection side, coded apertures modulate X-ray scatter signals to determine the position and radiance of scatter points. By forming object dependent projections in measurement space, coded apertures multiplex modulated scatter signals onto a detector. The multiplexed signals can be inverted with knowledge of the code pattern and system geometry. This work shows two systems capable of determining object position and type in a 2D plane, by illuminating objects with an X-ray `fan beam,' using coded apertures and compressive measurements. Scatter tomography can help identify materials in security and medicine that may be ambiguous with transmission tomography alone.

The focus of this work is to use geologic and geophysical methods to better understand the faults and fracture systems at Puna, in southeastern Hawaii, and southern Montserrat, in the Lesser Antilles. The particular interest is understanding and locating the deep fracture networks that are necessary for fluid circulation in hydrothermal systems. The dissertation first presents a study in which identification of large scale faulting places Montserrat into a tectonic context. Then follow studies of Puna and Montserrat that focus on faults and fractures of the deep hydrothermal systems.

The first chapter consists of the results of the SEA-CALIPSO experiment seismic reflection data, recorded on a 48 channel streamer with the active source as a 2600 in3 airgun. This chapter discusses volcaniclastic debris fans off the east coast of Montserrat and faults off the west coast. The work places Montserrat in a transtensional environment (influenced by oblique subduction) as well as in a complex local stress regime. One conclusion is that the stress regime is inconsistent with the larger arc due to the influence of local magmatism and stress.

The second chapter is a seismic study of the Puna hydrothermal system (PHS) along the Kilauea Lower East Rift Zone. The PHS occurs at a left step in the rift, where a fracture network has been formed between fault segments. It is a productive geothermal field, extracting steam and reinjecting cooled, condensed fluids. A network of eight borehole seismometers recorded >6000 earthquakes. Most of the earthquakes are very small (< M.2), and shallow (1-3 km depth), likely the result of hydrothermal fluid reinjection. Deeper earthquakes occur along the rift as well as along the south-dipping fault plane that originates from the rift zone.

Seismic methods applied to the PHS data set, after the initial recording, picking, and locating earthquakes, include a tomographic inversion of the P-wave first arrival data. This model indicates a high seismic velocity under the field that is thought to be an intrusion and the heat source of the hydrothermal system. A shear wave splitting study suggested the PHS fracture system is largely oriented rift-parallel with some orthogonal fractures. Shear wave splitting data also were used in a tomographic inversion for fracture density. The fracture density is high in the PHS, which indicates high permeability and potential for extensive fluid circulation. This has been confirmed by high fluid flow and energy generation. The high fracture density is consistent with the interpretation of a transfer zone between the rift segments where a fracture mesh would be expected. In Puna the transfer zone is a relay ramp.

The results from the PHS are used as an example to examine the proposed hydrothermal system at St. George's Hill, Montserrat. In southern Montserrat, hot springs and fumaroles suggest a deep hydrothermal system heated by local magmatism. A magnetotelluric study obtained resistivity data that suggest focused alteration under southeastern Montserrat that is likely to be along fault segments. Several faults intersect under SGH, making it the probable center of the hydrothermal system. At Puna, and also Krafla, Iceland, where faults interact is an area of increased permeability, acting as a model to be applied to southern Montserrat. The conclusion is that in both Puna and Montserrat large faults interact to produce local areas of stress transfer that lead to fracturing and permeable networks; these networks allow for high-temperature hydrothermal circulation.

In this work, the simulation (forward problem) and reconstruction (inverse problem) in Thermoacoustic Tomography (TAT) are studied using a pseudospectral time-domain (PSTD) method with 4th-order time integration.

The objective of the TAT simulation is to solve for the thermoacoustic pressure field in an inhomogeneous medium. Using the PSTD method, the spatial derivatives of pressure field and particle velocity can be obtained using fast fourier transform (FFT). Since the Fourier transforms used to represent the spatial derivatives of smooth functions are exact, only 2 points per wavelength are needed in the spatial discretization. The time integration is achieved by a 4th-order method to effectively reduce the computational time. The results of the algorithm are validated by analytical solutions. Perfectly Matched Layers (PMLs) are applied to absorb the outgoing waves and avoid ``wraparound'' effect. The maximum attenuation coefficient of the PMLs has an optimum value to minimize the reflections due to discretization and wraparound effect for 2D and 3D problems. Different PML profiles are also compared, quadratic profile is chosen because it can minimize the overall reflection. Spatial smoothing is needed for PSTD to avoid Gibbs' phenomenon in the modeling of a point source, and the effect of the smoothing function is studied.

In the TAT reconstruction problem, the PSTD method is used to reconstruct the thermoacoustic sources by solving the thermoacoustic wave equations in a reversed temporal order within the framework of time reversal imaging. The back-propagated pressure waves then refocus at the spatial locations of the original sources. Most other TAT reconstruction algorithms are based on the assumption that the tissue medium is acoustically homogeneous. In practice, however, even the mild tissue inhomogeneity will cause large phase errors and cause spatial misplacement and distortion of the sources. The proposed PSTD method utilizes a two-step process to solve this problem. In the first step, a homogeneous time reversal reconstruction is performed. Since an inhomogeneity itself is usually a source because of spatially dependent electrical conductivity (thus microwave absorption), the spatial location and the shape of the inhomogeneity can be estimated. In the second step, the updated acoustic property map is loaded followed by an inhomogeneous reconstruction. Numerical results show that this method greatly improves the reconstruction results. Images with improved quality are reconstructed from experimental data.

A 3D PSTD algorithm is developed and validated. Numerical results show that the PSTD algorithm with the 4th-order time integration is capable of simulating large 3D acoustic problems accurately and efficiently. A 3D breast phantom model is used to study the inhomogeneous reconstruction in 3D. Improved results over the homogeneous method are observed.

A preliminary study of the Thermoacoustic Tomography (TAT) using continuous-wave (CW) modulated microwaves is summarized. The theoretical background, system configuration, experiment setup, and measurement results are presented.